10 Days
by foreststrike
Summary: With all the Vault Hunters locked up in different parts of Pandora, leaving Axton and Mordecai to find them, 10 days certainly isn't enough time. But they'll have to make do. Impending doom awaits the Vault Hunters, summoned by a shadow man who deems Handsome Jack as "an idiot". Axton and Mordecai will have to find all their friends in such little time. Will they?
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

**A/N. Hey guys. This is my first story so I'd appreciate some comments and critique and feedback, and if I do get some good comments, I'll keep writing. Please be honest with what you think about my story, I don't want to hear sugar-coated lies. If you don't like it, say you don't like it and tell me why. If you like it, please do tell me you like so I'll be motivated to keep writing. Thanks! Also, this revolves around mainly Mordecai and Axton because I love Mordecai so much but I can't leave Axton out either. :) Enjoy!**

The cave was silent, completely quiet except for the gentle breathing of two men. One with a sleek, lean frame had a red cloth of sorts draped around him with a mask that concealed his eyes and hair and an oddly bandaged arm, the other with a larger, more army-like sort of figure wearing a brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up.

Eventually, the smaller-sized guy woke up. He pushed himself off the wall, looking around the small, dark cave. "Oh god, what the hell happened?" he muttered to no one in particular, not noticing his comrade next to him.

He stood up, leaning against the wall for a few seconds as he shook dizziness out of his head. The cave seemed to have no exit, or at least none that were visible in the darkness that surrounded him. The Hunter turned around and noticed his only companion for the first time. He knelt down on one knee and tapped his friend's face gently.

"Hey Axton," he said in a sort of gruff, slightly deep voice. Axton shook his head. "What?" he mumbled as he tried to identify the speaker in the darkness. "Mordecai?" The Hunter stood up. "Yeah you bet it's me," he said, "get up." Axton yawned and got to his feet, grabbing his guns off the floor.

"Where the hell are we?" Axton asked as he navigated his way around the cave, looking for a cave entrance. Mordecai shot him an annoyed look. "Hell if I know. We'd be out of here if I found an exit already," he hissed.

While the two searched the gloomy cave for an opening, a body seemed to materialize out of the darkness. "Going somewhere?" the smooth voice spoke. Both Vault Hunters whipped around, trying to identify the speaker. "Who are you?" Mordecai snarled, one hand reaching back to grab his revolver. Axton pointed his assault rifle, though it'd be pointless if he didn't know where his target was.

"Who am I? It doesn't matter. What does matter is that I know where your friends are," the ghostly figure said, its voice still smooth as ever. "Show yourself, coward," Mordecai snapped, wielding his revolver in his hand, loaded and ready to fire. But he also knew that in this sort of poor lighting, shooting would be stupid. Just downright stupid. And Mordecai didn't think of himself as stupid, but he still held the revolver tight.

"Oh? Like I said before, who I am, doesn't matter. But I am not Handsome Jack. That guy is an idiot and doesn't deserve our attention." Too true. "But I have kept your Vault Hunter friends in many places across Pandora, and I honestly didn't intend for both of you to wake up. So since plans have changed and I don't think I can possibly get away right now with both of you holding guns and cornering me, I'll set you a deal. I give you ten days to find all your Vault Hunter friends, and they'll be safe. If not, it's bye bye to all of them. Even you," he said smoothly, his voice calm like water and smooth as honey.

"I'm gonna kill you, you freaking bastard," Mordecai growled, pulling the trigger of his revolver. The gunshot rang through the cave, echoing off the rocky walls. But there was no hit. Axton yanked Mordecai back. "Don't shoot him. He'll just execute his plan for the others," he warned. The shadow man smiled, though it couldn't be seen. "Your friend has some sense. Here, you'll want these back," he said, tossing them their ECHO communicators. Axton wasn't sure if his ECHO communicator had some tracking device of sorts in it, but he'd figure it out later.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Axton growled, as the ghostly man gestured with a hand the way out. Axton dragged Mordecai out and into the sunlight. The Hunter squinted against the sudden sunlight, since his eyes had been pre adjusted to the darkness of the gloomy cave he and Axton had just been in.

"What did the creepy guy say about the others earlier?" Axton asked as he walked ahead, checking for any possible things Mordecai could snipe out, allowing them safe passage. Mordecai paused, probing his memory for what the guy had said.

"Something about 10 days to find the others located in all parts of Pandora or we're all screwed," he said, "If I remember correctly," he added quickly. He raised a hand into the air and Bloodwing landed on his arm. "Hey Bloodwing," he said, slinging his Sniper over his back and scratching the bird under her beak.

Axton nodded and beckoned for Mordecai to go over to where he was. "We got a bunch of stalkers down there, mind sniping them out?" he said, shifting aside to let him get a better look. Sure enough, about 7 stalkers lurked on the grassy patch further down, ready to begin attacking anything that came through and wasn't a fellow stalker.

"I got this," Mordecai said, slinging his Sniper over his shoulder and letting it rest against his shoulder. He brought the scope up to his eye and his finger tightened around the trigger. "Once I take the first shot, most likely one or two will come up so you might want to ready your turret," he said, still trying to get a pinpoint on his target. Axton nodded, letting Mordecai focus completely on sniping out a stalker.

Mordecai's crosshairs rested on a medium sized stalker, restlessly lying on a rock and flicking it's deadly, needle-shooting tail around as if it was bored and wanted something to do. Mordecai shifted the sniper a little to the right and the crosshairs were directly on the space right in the middle of it's head. His finger pulled the trigger back and the gun cocked in his hand, firing a bullet that went straight through the stalker's head and out the other side.

Hisses erupted from the ground below as stalkers were alerted to the two Vault Hunters on top of the cliff. Axton threw down his Sabre Turret and Mordecai tossed Bloodwing into the air. The bird soared down to the stalkers, dive-bombing them and causing a huge distraction. The turret fired missiles as the confused stalkers, taking advantage of their momentary weakness to take as many of them down, before they regained their senses and disappeared, trying to sneak up on the two Vault Hunters.

Axton whipped out his assault rifle and began to shoot at a stalker who was minimally visible. The stalker hissed as bullets hit its shield, but did not manage to harm the creature's maroon body. "God dammit," Axton hissed as he reloaded his gun and the stalker disappeared again. Mordecai was holding up pretty well, using his revolver to down as many stalkers. "Axton behind you!" he called as a stalker materialised behind Axton, spitting and hissing. The commando grabbed his tomahawk and swung it around, feeling the blade hit and tear a bloody line across the stalker's face.

The ugly stalker screamed a sound which seemed like a mix of a cat fight and a hiss, and tried to while Axton off balance, but the commando jumped aside and smashed the stalker's head with the butt of his gun. The stalker collapsed to the ground, blood pooling around it.

Mordecai himself was surrounded by stalkers, advancing on him. "Crap… Axton, wanna give me a hand?" he called as the stalkers closed in on him. If he shot one of them, they'd all pounce on him. Axton turned around and threw his turret down, letting the missiles pick off the stalkers. Bloodwing screeched and dove at the stalkers, grabbing one of them in the face and tearing her beak into its neck.

Mordecai used his sword to slash at anything possible, when he heard a loud hiss. A stalker which had somehow evaded Axton's turret's missiles leapt straight for him and sunk its teeth into Mordecai's arm. "Ahh! God dammit," Mordecai yelled as he pulled out his revolver with his free arm and shot the stalker in the face. The grip on his arm loosened as the stalker crumpled to the ground.

"Hey, you okay?" Axton asked, coming up. He kept back his turret and surveyed the surroundings for anymore stalkers. "Yeah, I guess," Mordecai said, twisting his arm around to see the damage. A little blood welled up, nothing too serious. He wiped away the blood with his other hand. "I'm good," he said, kicking aside a stalker corpse.

He sheathed his bloody blade back where it belonged and wielded his sniper rifle again. "Damn, that battle was tough and these freaking stalkers didn't even drop any loot. What a waste," Mordecai comment as he nudged the stalker corpses over to check for loot they may have dropped.

Axton was already making his way down the hill. "You coming?" he called back. Bloodwing landed on Mordecai's shoulder. "Yeah yeah, we're coming," he grumbled as he hurried down the hill.

"Where are we going?" Mordecai asked as he caught up with Axton and followed behind, looking around the Highlands. Axton shrugged. "I don't have a specific destination, but right now, Sanctuary sounds like possible the best place we could go," he said.

Zer0 woke up on cold, hard floor with lasers surrounding his, locking him in the confined space. The assassin looked around, trying to make sense of his surroundings. The dark room, the hologram screens outside, the technology… nope. Not Sanctuary. But Opportunity.

An exclamation mark appeared in front of his helmet as he stood up and tried to walk forward, but there really wasn't much to "walk forward to" and one leg of his was chained. He looked down at it in dismay, before immediately taking out his katana to make sure it was not damaged.

The prized sword was with him, but his guns weren't. And there was no one around to rage at. "What is this, I do not know, someone let me out," he called. No response. There was really no one around.

Zer0 sat down with his katana and attempted to cut through the laser bars that kept him in this small prison. The katana just sparked electricity in contact with the bars. He turned to the chain around his ankle and tried to saw through it with the katana. Same reaction.

His guns were nowhere to be seen around the room, and his katana was clearly no use against the bars that kept him confined. Zer0 sighed and sat back, examining the bars that glowed a light blue.

"There isn't anyone in the HQ," Axton reported over the ECHO communicator. Mordecai sighed. "They're not anywhere else and it seems no one knows where they've gone," he said. Axton frowned. Then he heard Mordecai whispering, "Toss me another drink, Moxxi."

"Are you drinking at Moxxi's again?!" Axton fumed over the ECHO. Mordecai shrugged. "Well, what else is there to do except drink? We might get a lead from someone here," Mordecai reasoned, before he lowered his voice, "thank Moxxi," he had said. Axton sighed. "Alright, I'm coming over," he said.

Mordecai was on his second bottle by the time Axton reached. He was literally drinking right out of the bottle. But Axton knew Mordecai held his liquor pretty well so he didn't argue. Moxxi welcomed him by sliding him a cup of some alcohol. Axton nodded his thanks and sat down as Mordecai put the almost empty bottle down. "First cup?" he asked Axton, who nodded. "You don't seem to notice my presence, or anyone's presence for that matter, when you're downing bottles of booze," came the reply.

The Hunter shrugged. "What to do? I have one brain and drinking takes up most part of it," he said, finishing the rest of the bottle in a gulp. He slid the bottle back to Moxxi and got a third bottle in exchange.

"Don't get drunk," Axton warned. Mordecai snorted. "I should be saying that to you. Last time you took three full cups and totally passed out, Lilith and Salvador had to drag you back to the HQ." Axton looked rather annoyed. "Don't remind me," he sighed.

Mordecai tilted the bottle up and chugged down a quarter of the bottle. "Damn this is good stuff," he said, his voice beginning to slur. Axton leaned back. "That's your last bottle, before you get so drunk you waste 3 whole days trying to remember who the hell you are because booze messed your brain up," he warned. Mordecai shrugged and cleared another quarter of the bottle.

Axton finished his cup and slid it back to Moxxi, refusing a second cup. "Come on, Mordecai. Take your alcohol with you. We better go see if we can find anything," he said. Mordecai stumbled to his feet and gave Moxxi a leaving kiss before following Axton out, still holding the bottle in his hand.

Axton led Mordecai back to the Raider's HQ and Mordecai slumped onto the couch on the upper floor, still downing the bottle of rakk ale in gulps. "Just out of curiosity, Mordecai. You're colour-blind, right?" Mordecai nodded. "Yeah, don't like to talk about it though. But I'll grant ya one question about my colour-blindness," he said, tossing the empty bottle aside.

"What colours can you see?" Axton asked. "Everything but teal and some shades of blue, but everything else is normal. And that's odd because I should think teal is a nice colour so that's my favourite colour," Mordecai said, shrugging. Bloodwing flew in through the balcony.

"Huh, teal is a sort of greenish blue in a sort of dark shade," Axton said, thinking he might as well let Mordecai have a better idea of what teal looked like. Mordecai shrugged. "Can't imagine it, but it sounds like a nice colour," he said, standing up. "Now, are we gonna go find the others or not?" he said, walking up to the holographic map table. He took a look at it.

"Based off what abilities and how powerful each of the Vault Hunters are, I've sort of guessed where each of them are being held captive. I don't know how many have busted out already, but I think we're going to need a Light Runner, unless you're fine with walking for miles," Axton said, zooming in the map.

Mordecai took a look at the rough location of each person. "Well, I don't suppose this is going to be a breeze?" he said. Axton shook his head. "No, definitely not. In fact, with just two of us, this may be harder than we'd expect. So go load up your guns and I'll meet you at the nearest Catch-A-Ride," Axton said, leaving the room.

Mordecai sighed and took the faster way out by jumping off the balcony. He landed on the ground lightly, his lean, lithe and sleek frame helping him land lightly. He headed down to Marcus's gun shop. "Hey Marcus," he called as he went down the steps to the shop two at a time. The gun shopkeeper looked up. "Oh, it's you. Whadd'ya want?" Marcus asked. Mordecai leaned on the table. "What's one of the best snipers you got? As probably a better revolver than this old thing," he said, handing Marcus his old revolver.

Marcus examined the revolver as he headed to the back of the shop to take out his finest snipers. He returned with a majestic looking sniper and a beautifully sleek revolver. "Well, I got myself here a brilliant revolver and 'The Orion'. SNS sniper," he said, letting Mordecai take a thorough look at the sniper. It was incredibly light for a sniper, and he knew he was going to get the revolver already. "Mind if I test it out?" he asked. Marcus led him to the firing range where Mordecai rested the sniper against his shoulder and brought the scope up to his eye.

"Put the target as far as possible," he said. Marcus shifted the target, basically a bullseye board with a criminal of sorts strapped to it, right to the end of the alley. Mordecai took a few seconds to adjust the scow perfectly and he pulled the trigger, landing a bullet right in the eye of the criminal. He lowered the sniper. "Not bad. How much do ya want for it?" he asked as Marcus brought him back to the shop front. Marcus smiled. "Nine thousand," he said simply. Mordecai raised an eyebrow. "How about 5 thousand, my old revolver and my old sniper for the sniper and the revolver?" he bargained.

Marcus leaned back. "Throw in an SMG and we're good to go," he said. Mordecai sighed. At least he hardly used the SMG and it was just pointless, a dead weight to him. He took out his old sniper, his old revolver and the SMG he never used and slid it to Marcus. But Marcus didn't hand over the guns. Mordecai shook his head and slid him the cash, and Marcus gave him the gorgeous guns in return. "Thanks," Mordecai said. He left the shop, reloading the guns with the ammo he had emptied out of his old guns.

"Now, where's the nearest Catch-A-Ride?" Mordecai mumbled as he slung The Orion over his back. His legs seemed to take him to Scooter's where Scooter and Axton were waiting. "What took you so long?" Axton asked, leaning against a Light Runner MG. "I just got myself some new guns," he said, tucking the revolver in his belt. Axton noticed the sniper as Mordecai climbed up the back of the Runner and jumped into the gunner seat. "Nice sniper, he said, getting into the driver's seat. "It was worth what I gave up," the Hunter said as Axton drove out.

"Where's the nearest place you guessed any one of them would be held?" Mordecai asked as Axton used the fast travel machine to get him, Mordecai and the Runner out of the floating city of Sanctuary. "Uh… I honestly don't remember," he said, randomly sending the two of them and the Runner to the first place that popped into his head: Tundra Express.

When his sight cleared, Mordecai looked around as the snowy outcrop. "Seriously, Axton? Tundra Express? You got to be kidding me. No idiot is going to keep a Vault Hunter in this godforsaken place!" he hissed as he drew his new revolver and kept it in his hand.

"Not like as if you had a better lead. In fact, you would rather just sit back at Sanctuary and drink yourself sick, like you always do," Axton retorted in annoyance.

Mordecai flinched. It was true, as much as he liked some adventure and found shooting under his hobbies list, drinking was a favourite and he often made himself drunk. Bloodwing just fluttered from the Runner's back up to the gunner seat where she perched on the turret.

"Alright alright, just drive," Mordecai said dismissively, stroking Bloodwing's leathery wings gently. He swung his sniper on his shoulder and kept looking around as Axton drove down the snowy terrain.

Further out were a bunch of varkid larvae, hanging around, waiting for the time they would turn into those ugly cocoons and become an even more hideous adult varkid. "You wanna go slay those things?" Mordecai asked with interest as he aimed The Orion, peering through the scope and taking a moment to adjust his aim. Even with the moving Runner, Mordecai still managed to keep his sights locked on a varkid larva, crawling out of the nest. He pulled the trigger back and felt the bullet slip from the barrel and shoot through the air, piercing a hole right through the varkid's head.

"Bullseye," he said, satisfied with the shot. The other varkids around were confused for a second, before they began jumping at the Runner which just drove right over them. Axton purposely drove into the varkid farm and was rolling over varkids, hearing the crunch of the varkids getting squashed under the wheels.

When the Runner stopped, Axton jumped out of the car and bent down to take a look at the icky mess covering the wheels. "Dude, that's nasty," Mordecai hissed as he joined Axton on the ground. Varkid brains and intestines were squished and coated on the wheels of the black Runner, green and sticky. "Get in the Runner," Axton said, suddenly looking up. "Why?" Mordecai asked. Suddenly, a bullet shot the space in the Runner right next to Mordecai. "That's why," Axton said, jumping into the driver's seat.

Once Mordecai was in the gunner's seat, Axton took off, slamming his foot into the accelerator as bullet flew through the air in their direction. The runner took a sharp turn and swung around, driving in the opposite direction.

A bullet soared through the air, fast enough to catch up with the Runner and suddenly, Mordecai felt a sharp pain in his arm. He twisted his arm around and saw the hole the bullet had made in his arm, blood slowly rolling down his upper arm and dow to his elbow. "God dammit," he hissed. Pain seared through his arm like fire.

Suddenly, the car took a sharp turn and jerked forward as Axton tried to stop the car before it toppled off cliff edge, but the car went down the cliff, turning 360 degrees in the air before it hit the ground with massive impact.

"Ah shit," Axton growled as he picked his way out of the car, smashed and probably on fire somewhere. He dragged himself out of the Runner and looked at himself to check for injuries. Nothing but a few minor cuts and a splitting headache. He reached in to grab his assault rifle from under the smoking car.

"Mordecai?" Axton called, walking around the car to find his comrade. Mordecai trying to drag himself out from under the car with one hand, the other bleeding from the gunshot wound. Bloodwing stood nervously in front of him, trying to help him out.

"Help…" Mordecai hissed. His legs felt numb, they were stuck under the car and something was weighing down on his ankle heavily. Axton rushed over to Mordecai. "You're gonna be fine," he said as he tried to see which part of Mordecai was stuck under the car. The turret was weighing down on his ankle, pressing it onto rock. Axton used his tomahawk and swung it as the turret, trying to smash it.

"That ain't working, Axton," Mordecai snapped. The snow around him was stained red from the blood on his arm. Axton sighed, trying to think of something better while he sheathed his tomahawk.

"Try pushing the turret off, it's moveable," Mordecai suggested, his voice strained with pain from his ankle and his shoulder. Axton cracked his knuckles and knelt down, grabbing the turret and pushing it with all the strength he had. The turret shifted a little, and Axton pushed harder. The turret came loose and swung away from Mordecai's ankle, allowing the Hunter to drag himself out. His arm left a trail of blood.

Axton let Mordecai sit leaning against the car as he took a look at his ankle. "Nothing serious, just a sprain," he said. "Your elbow?" he said, motioning to the bleeding arm. "Gunshot," Mordecai said. Axton shook his head. "My bad, should have driven faster," he said.

Mordecai shot him a glare. "And get us all killed because you would have flown the Runner off the cliff at higher speeds with greater impact? No thanks," he said, struggling to his feet. When he tried to walk, even the lightest touch on the ground with his sprained foot sent pain through his leg like electricity.

"Dammit," he snapped. Axton sighed. "Most we can do is walk, since we got no Runner and we're in the middle of the bottom of a cliff," he said.

Mordecai shook his head. "I can't possibly walk," he said, leaning against the smoking Runner. "Then sit down and I'll figure something out," Axton said as he took out his ECHO. Mordecai sat back down on the ground, with Bloodwing next to him as Axton tried to figure something out.

**A/N. That's it for chapter 1! Please do leave a review if you want to ask me something about the story or have something to say about it. Remember, constructive criticism please, and be honest about your review! If you don't like it, tell me and don't like it and why. Also, if you liked the story, please favourite!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Opportunity

**A/N. Oh look, I was free enough to write the second chapter. Hopefully this one will have a bit more of the others involved, though I want to also focus on Axton and Mordecai mainly as they're our main focus, as well as the others as they join the story. Also, I'm bringing an OC, but I'll try not to have her overwhelm the story.**

"Hey, where am I?" Lilith said to no one in particular as she looked around her little prison cell. There were a few Hyperion soldiers and a spitter skag on a leash in the dim room, but other than that, there was no one around.

A Hyperion soldier's eyes flicked back to her, realising she was awake. He nudged the other guard. "She's awake," he said. The other guard holding the leashed Spitter Skag turned around. "She shouldn't be. I thought we hit her hard enough," he growled as he approached Lilith in her cage cell.

"Let me out," Lilith warned, giving an evil glare, one that meant serious business. The Hyperion Soldier's attention flicked to the door of the dim room. Someone outside was unlocking the door. Both Hyperion soldiers wielded their weapons, pointing it to the door as it opened.

The sudden light caused Lilith to squint as she got accustomed to it, and she noticed the Hyperion Soldiers lower their weapons and salute to whoever was entering. Something with pointed ears flicked the long tail she apparently had, dismissing both Hyperion Soldiers out. The skag hesitated, but was yanked out by the Hyperion soldier.

The newcomer closed the door behind her and walked up to Lilith. "So, you are a Vault Hunter?" came the voice. A female. Lilith made a face. "Why does that concern you?" she asked in return. The pointed-eared woman stood up. "I'll take that as a yes," she said.

"Who are you? Let me out!" Lilith growled, trying to see who the lady was. "Me?" the lady said, before she stepped right in front of Lilith and bent down. A cheetah? She had a human face structure, but she had a muzzle and feline ears, and she had fur. She was basically a cheetah with a human structure.

"I'm Navire," she said. "And I need you to know I'm here to help you," she said. Lilith frowned. "I can see you don't believe me," Navire said. "No, of course I don't. If you were here to help me, you'd get me out of here," Lilith said, discreetly attempting a phase lock.

"Trust me, I am here to help you. I know you are Lilith and I know your Vault Hunter comrades. Roland, Axton, Zer0, Mordecai, Salvador, Brick and Maya," Navire said, flicking her ears in a feline way.

Lilith still didn't trust her. Navire wore a grey shirt with black pants, she had a red cloth draped around her waist loosely like Mordecai, and she had a belt. Strapped over her chest was another belt which held a scimitar across her back, and Lilith noticed an ECHO communicator.

"Wait. You have an ECHO?" she asked in disbelief. Navire glanced back at her. "I told you you could trust me. I know Mordecai. We…. we met before. I'm an ex-Raider," Navire explained. Lilith couldn't understand it yet. "Then why are you working here?" she asked. Navire's sharp fingernails seemed to be able to sheath, acting as retractable claws at the tip of her furry fingers. "That… I'd rather not talk about now," Navire admitted.

Navire's ear twisted towards the door, though the feline never turned to look. "He's coming. Act like I'm torturing you," Navire said, drawing her scimitar from across her back, revealing the shiny, silver blade.

Another sleek figure stepped into the room, and Navire scowled at him. "What do you want?" she hissed, flattening her ears in annoyance. "I hope you are not treating our guest too rudely, Navire?" came the voice. A guy's voice. "No," Navire snapped. "Can't hurt to mock them," she said. The figure began to move back towards the door. "Don't stay here too long, Navire," he said, before he walked out and the door slammed shut behind him. Navire's eyes slit as she turned back to Lilith.

"Who was that?" Lilith asked, staring at the door. "That," Navire said, "Is the guy who locked you all up. I don't know his name," the cheetah said, looking away. "But one thing I can tell you. Axton and Mordecai are free. When he knocked them out, he tossed them in a cave in the Highlands, and I've been sending out some spies who are against Hyperion to check on every one of you. I got Reiss to wake them up," Navire said.

Lilith raised her eyebrows. "I thought Reiss was dead?" she asked. Navire smiled. "Apparently not," she said. "I can get in contact with Mordecai and Axton for you," she offered. Lilith's eyes lit up. Navire took out her ECHO and was about to contact either one of the free Vault Hunters when a Hyperion Soldier stepped in. "Miss Navire? Someone wants to see you," he said, his voice a but unsteady.

Navire's attitude immediately changed. "Who wants to see me?" she asked in a deathly silent tone. "I don't know, Miss, he just said it's important," the Hyperion Soldier stammered. Navire turned around. "Alright, take him to my office," she snarled, before closing the door. Just before the door shut, Navire turned to look at Lilith and gave her a knowing flick of the tail.

"Isn't there anyone you can possibly contact?" Mordecai sighed as he limped along with Axton. Staying back at the cliff was no use with the smoking Runner that Axton had attempted to use. Axton frowned. "I don't know anyone who isn't captured or who can possibly help," he replied. Walking made very slow progress, especially with Mordecai's sprained ankle. But hey, it was progress.

"Just…. uh. Where's the nearest Fast Travel? We can possibly head back to Sanctuary," Mordecai suggested. Axton shook his head. "The nearest working one is 12 miles away," he said. Mordecai's shoulders sagged. Bloodwing flew with them, constantly scouting ahead for anything useful or deadly.

The two walked in silence, when Axton took out his ECHO and tried contacting one of the other Vault Hunters. None of them responded. He sighed. "We might as well try find Hammerlock," Axton said bitterly, though he really didn't want to see the snobbish guy. Mordecai clearly didn't want to see him either, but there was no where else to go.

Liar's Berg wasn't far away, and within 45 minutes, they had reached. "Hammerlock? You here?" Axton called. No response but a gust of wind came. Then they heard some rustling. "Hammerlock?" Axton repeated.

A bullymong exploded out of the bushes, charging straight for them. "Holy shit," Mordecai yelped as he stumbled aside, missing the bullymong's paw by an inch. He pulled his revolver out of his belt and aimed a shot as the bullymong's face, but the ugly brute turned and charged at Axton.

Axton was fast, but the bullymong was faster. It swatted Axton off his feet and rammed him aside. It was about to hit Axton again when a bullet flew through the bullymong's head.

Axton panted as he got to his feet, pushing the dead bullymong aside. "Thanks Mordecai," he panted. "That wasn't me," Mordecai said, still holding the revolver in his hand and staring wildly.

"Hello, mercenaries," came the familiar british voice. Axton and Mordecai both turned to see Sir Hammerlock holding a smoking rifle in his hand. "Not a bad shot for an old chap like me," he said. Axton nodded his thanks, while Mordecai grunted. "Hey Hammerlock, think you might be able to fix Mordecai's ankle? It's sprained and he can barely walk," Axton said, cutting to the chase. Mordecai shot Axton a glare and got a shrug in return.

Hammerlock didn't say anything, but invited the two into his shack. It was small, but well equipped with boxes of ammo everywhere, guns all over, a table, a worn out couch, a sink and a fridge that probably wasn't working.

He invited them to sit and Mordecai put his hurt foot on the table. Hammerlock had also noted the gunshot wound in his arm, the bullet still lodged somewhere in there. "What have you people been doing, going to fight the Hyperion Corporation with your bare fists?" he asked, hinting a bit of mockery.

"No," Axton sighed, trying to ease some bruises he had gotten from the fall off the cliff in the Runner. "I don't suppose either of you are going to tell me what has been going on recently?" Hammerlock asked as he handed Mordecai a roll of bandage to wrap around his foot for support.

Axton gave Mordecai a look. He got a nod in return. "Go for it," the Hunter said as he rolled the badge around his swollen, red ankle.

Axton sighed. "Okay, so we have no idea what happened before, but Mordecai and I woke up in a cave in the Highlands. There was some creepy guy in the cave saying something about the other Vault Hunters being locked up in different places all around Pandora and that we have 10 days to find them all or it's kinda doom to them and us. Then earlier we were in Tundra Express and we started to get shot at, so I drove off," Axton said. Mordecai noticed he had deliberately left out the falling off a cliff part and scowled at him. "And Axton over there drove us right off a cliff, which led to the ankle," he finished. He got an understanding nod from Hammerlock and a scowl from Axton.

"No news of your friends?" Hammerlock asked as Mordecai got up and went to clean his bloody arm. Axton shook his head. "Got nothing via ECHO," he said. Bloodwing picked at a piece of meat on the counter. Mordecai was binding his arm up.

Hammerlock sighed. "Well, there isn't much I can help you all with, except maybe supplying you enough to last a few days, but life out here isn't easy," he said. Mordecai and Bloodwing both looked at the stack of cash on the countertop at the same time. "Well, you got money, you got supplies. You got a freaking hell lot of bullets an your only problem is Bullymongs. Things shouldn't be too hard," Mordecai said, shrugging.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. I got that annoying Claptrap knocking on my door every night, begging to be let in from the bullymongs, and I got Hyperion Soldiers coming too," he said. Mordecai shrugged. "You still got bloody efficient guns and a hell lot of bullets. Just put one bullet through a Hyperion Soldier each and for Claptrap, throw him out for the bullymongs and let them to their job," the Hunter replied.

"Those Hyperion Soldiers don't come in ones and twos, my dear friend. They come in armies," Hammerlock said. Oh. Armies. "Then why don't you go back to Sanctuary?" Axton asked. Hammerlock shot him a look. "Where do you think I get all these bullets from?" he asked. Axton shrugged. "Loot," he said.

"Anyway, I'll see what I can give you all and then you best be on your way. You did say you have a limit of 10 days," Hammerlock said, rummaging through drawers. He gave them a few Insta-Health vials, a whole lot of ammunition and an SMG.

"Thanks Hammerlock," Axton said as they left the shack. Then Claptrap showed up. "Minions! I've been looking for you! That Hammerlock guy's been throwing me out for the bullymongs!" he complained. Axton rolled his eyes and Mordecai pointed his revolver as Claptrap. "Go. Away," he snarled, "unless you know possibly where the other Vault Hunters are?"

Claptrap obviously heard the question but was avoiding it. He started blabbering about how great he was and nonsense like that. Mordecai looked at Axton and got a nod of approval. The Hunter shot the ground in front of Claptrap, causing him to reel back and scream.

"He's not being anything useful. Can I kill him?" Mordecai asked, ready to pull the trigger on the frightened robot. Axton shook his head. "Leave him. Don't waste your ammo," he said, walking past Claptrap. Mordecai limped after Axton.

"Someone let me out, things will start to get bloody, you will not like it," Zer0 hissed from his confinement cell. Clearly using his katana to cut through the glowing chain that clamped down on his leg was no use and neither was it good on the bars of the cell.

There was still no one in the room, apparently people thought his cell was enough to hold him back. And it kinda was. Zer0 looked around the dim room, bored. There wasn't much in reach from his cell, or even anything useful. He did see his ECHO on a table on the other side of the darkish room.

Lilith sat in the dimness of the room, waiting for Navire to return so she could attempt to contact Mordecai and Axton. Phase walking didn't seem to work here, she had tried plenty of times. Sighing, she brushed away a strand of red hair from her face.

The room brightened as the doors swung open and Navire stepped inside. She quickly shut the doors and Lilith squinted against the light. "Sorry I took so long," Navire apologised, pulling up a chair. "Where was I earlier?" she prompted Lilith.

"About contacting Mordecai and Axton," Lilith answered, getting more eager by the second as Navire nodded and took out her ECHO. "Guys?" the feline said into the ECHO, her ears twitching, waiting for a response.

Mordecai heard his ECHO click, then a familiar voice. He paused. "Axton, hold up," he said. Lilith and Navire could hear it on their side. Mordecai took out his ECHO. "Guys, it's Navire. Remember me?" Navire asked hopefully.

Oh yeah, the feline girl. "Navire! Oh thank god finally someone got in contact. We're kinda a bit busy now. What up?" Mordecai asked. Navire sighed. "I think it'll be better if you talk to someone you're a bit closer to," Navire said, handing the ECHO to Lilith, who grabbed it.

"Mordecai? Axton?" Lilith's voice came. "Lilith!" both guys said at once. "Are you all okay? Neither of you dying?" Lilith said excitedly, glad to be in contact with another Vault Hunter she could trust. "No, neither us are dead but Mordecai's a but hurt, nothing serious," Axton said.

Lilith breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you guy manage to reach the others?" she asked. Mordecai sighed. "Sadly, no," he admitted. Lilith's hopes dropped a bit. She was hoping that she'd get some news of Roland.

"Where are you anyway, Lilith?" Axton asked. Lilith looked around her. "In a cell. Not sure where," Lilith said, looking up at Navire for an answer. Navire flicked her tail. "Hyperion HQ. I can get you whereabouts of the others if you give me some time," she said.

Mordecai looked at Axton. "Yeah sure. Whatever info we can get will be of great help. Uh… we gotta go," Mordecai's voice became shaky. "No wait don-" Lilith began, but the guys hung up. Navire frowned. "I have a feeling they're in trouble," she said, her whiskers twitching. Then she sighed and stood up. "Well, I better go find the whereabouts of the others like I promised," she said, leaving the room and leaving Lilith alone again.

Zer0 had been counting in is head to see how far he could count until he got bored. He was at 12,548 when the door opened, letting light filter in.

The assassin drew his sword defensively, ready to swing it though it'd be useless against the energy bars keep him confined.

"Chill," Navire said as she entered the room. Zer0 lowered his sword when he saw it was Navire. "Good that it is you, tell me why I am locked up, perhaps let me out?" Zer0 asked, as Navire sighed. "I'm sorry Zer0, I don't have the keys to your cell now. But I can get it for you. I'm already in contact with Lilith, Mordecai and Axton. Just gige me a sec and I'll get you out. But I need to you to turn invisible the minute I open your cell and get the hell out of here, got me?" Navire said.

Zer0 nodded, and Navire stood up. "Wait for me," she said. She had a shred of a midget's clothes in her hand. Outside, she hid in a corner, unsheathing her claws and watching as a Hyperion Soldier walked up to the corner. As soon as he turned around the corner, Navire grabbed his arm, twisted it around his back and put her claws to his neck. "Give me the keys to the Vault Hunter's cell," she growled, letting her fangs settle lightly on his throat. "Or I will eat you alive. I haven't had fresh meat in ages."

The Hyperion Soldier whimpered and fished around in his pocket for the keys, dropping then in Navire's open palm. "Thanks," she hissed, stabbing her claws through his throat. She was going to need one more victim to make it seem like bandits.

An oblivious Hyperion Soldier armed with a sword of all things came around the corner, and Navire made her move, pouncing on him and twisting his sword arm behind his back, driving him into a wall where she stabbed him in the back with his own sword and his own arm. He had managed to land a blow on her cheek, leaving thin trail of blood. Good. Now if anyone caught her it'd seem like she was involved in the bandit fight. She threw down the shred of midget clothing and took the keys with her, entering the room where Zer0 was held captive.

She ensured the doors were shut tightly and jingled the keys. "Looky what I got!" she giggled, kneeling down to unlock the cage. Zer0 nodded his thanks and turned invisible, leaving Opportunity as fast as possible. Of course, he couldn't help but kill one or two more Hyperion soldiers on his way out.

**A/N. So this chapter didn't exactly go the way I planned, I just let my fingers fly across the keyboard and I guess this is what came of it. Please remember to leave a review and favourite if you liked it. If you didn't like it, please leave me a review telling me why. Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3: Wildlife Preserve

**A/N. Happy New Year! I was free enough to get this up on New Year's Day (1/1/13!) so I hope you enjoy it! My story hasn't been up for too long so I'm not expecting reviews yet, but please do review my story so I can improve! I'll seriously try get the others in the story here.**

Salvador sat with his head leaning against the wall. "Stupid," he cursed as he stared at the bleak wall. Around him were walls that went on for goodness knows how long, and shooting the walls were clearly no point.

The gunzerker stared bitterly at the bullet-impaled wall behind him. This stone cell was no fun. There was barely any light coming in, except for a lamp from behind the glass window further up where his bullets couldn't reach, but where whoever was holding him back could watch.

He tried to think back to how he could possibly have been captured, but his mind fogged up when he tried to think further back to before he got knocked out. "You know I'm getting out!" he roared at no one in particular, before he balled up his fist and swung at a wall in frustration.

From the window above, two Hyperion Soldiers watched Salvador punch the wall repeatedly. "Should we knock him out?" one asked. The other shook his head. "Let him tire himself out." Salvador let out a long string of curses from below.

Zer0 sat on top of a building, wondering how he could possibly get to the Fast Travel station without any of the roaming loaders noticing him. The assassin didn't intend to shoot any of them, or they'd figure out where he was.

He reached back and took out his ECHO, attempting to get in contact with Mordecai or Axton. He waited until he heard a voice. "Axton here," Axton's voice came through. Zer0's head flicked back to see whether any of the loaders had heard him.

"You must be quiet, the loaders will find me here, where are you Axton," Zer0 asked, his voice dropping to a whisper. Axton looked around. "Tundra Express. Where are you and what happened?" Axton asked.

"Caught by Hyperion, am in Opportunity, trying to leave now," Zer0 replied in his usual monotonous voice, before he clicked off the ECHO and kept it aside, before jumping off the roof of whatever building he had been positioned on earlier. Just as his feet touched the ground, he turned invisible, sweeping out of loader sights.

In his Decepti0n mode, every living being became blue, highlighted for him to see and identify them. He sprinted through, dodging any loaders that could possibly hit him out of Decepti0n and blow his cover. At the Fast Travel station, he let a WAR loader pass him and walk further out before he touched the Fast Travel station with a hand and materialised back into reality. He got to work, working his hands quickly as he got the machine to send him to Tundra Express before any loaders saw him.

"Hey!" Zer0 turned around just before he managed to activate the Fast Travel station, to see five Hyperion Soldiers and a large variety of loaders heading his way. "Crap," he hissed, wielding his katana.

A GUN loader made the first move, unloading its bullets on Zer0, who dodged the bullets quickly and rolled, before jumping to his feet again. A Hyperion Soldier ran at him, attempting to catch Zer0 with a bullet or two, but Zer0 just swung his katana out and caught the soldier by the side of his head, tearing a bloody line.

The ground vibrated as a WAR loader stomped towards Zer0, making its intentions obvious. Zer0 whipped out his Corrosive Fox SMG and released a rain of corrosive acid on the WAR loader, attempting to stop it from advancing further. Though the corrosive acid slowed the WAR loader down, it didn't stop from releasing its rockets at Zer0.

The assassin flung himself out of the way and right into a Hyperion Soldier, who took the opportunity to hit Zer0 on the back of the head with his gun. Zer0 dropped to the ground for a second before twisting around, his elbow slamming into the Hyperion Soldier's face. The WAR loader turned towards the two of them and fired, and Zer0 leapt away, leaving the Hyperion Soldier to get blasted.

Two confused EXP loaders ran at Zer0, colliding into each other as they ran. Both of them stopped before Zer0, charging themselves up to explode. Zer0 took the moment to kick them back, and both of them exploded, taking a GUN loader down with them.

"Funny," Zero said, a smiley emotion appearing on his helmet. As he surveyed the mass destruction, he failed to notice a Hyperion Soldier sneaking up from behind with a knife in his hand. The Hyperion Soldier had a metal cord in the other hand, which he slung over Zer0's neck and tightened, holding him close. "Think you're so great, eh?" the Hyperion Soldier sneered, stabbing the knife into Zer0's side.

Pain shot through Zer0 and he channeled that pain into strength, grabbing the cord and flipping the Hyperion Soldier over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground. He yanked the knife, covered in blood, out and held it over the Hyperion Soldier. The Hyperion Soldier's eyes were filled with fear as Zer0 raised the knife and brought it down, slicing his head off.

Zer0 stumbled to his feet, clutching his side. He sighed and made his way to the Fast Travel. He restarted keying in his destination and was soon on the way to Tundra Express.

"You said he was gonna be here soon," Mordecai sighed, leaning against a rock as he stared at the Fast Travel station, waiting for Zer0's arrival. Axton shook his head. "Zer0 told me he'd be here. He's probably gotten himself into trouble in Opportunity." Mordecai rolled his eyes, though he knew Axton couldn't see it.

"Then let's just-" Mordecai began, about to walk off when the Fast Travel station flickered. He turned back to the machine and watched as Zer0 materialised before them. "You're here," Axton said. Zer0 looked at Axton. "I was in a fight, but I made it out alive, minimally hurt," Zer0 said.

Minimally? Mordecai raised an eyebrow. Bloodwing flew from Mordecai's shoulder to Zer0 and seemed very interested in his hip. "I think Bloodwing found his injury," Mordecai noted as Axton took a look.

Sure enough, Zer0's side was still bleeding. "Dude, that's not minimal," he said. Zer0 sighed. "What else could I say, I cannot seem weak to you, it is bad for me," Zer0 admitted. Axton just shook his head and stroked Bloodwing as he clicked on the Fast Travel. "How did Bloodwing know anyway?" he asked, his question clearly directed at Mordecai. "She's got a thing for blood," he said simply as he limped to Axton.

Zer0 noticed the limp in Mordecai but he was tired and chose not to say anything about it. Like him, Mordecai didn't like talking about anything that was his weakness, be it an injury or something he was not capable of. He respected the Hunter and chose to keep quiet.

"We are going to Sanctuary," Axton said. Zer0 turned to look at Axton. "Why Sanctuary, is there not a time limit, we must find the rest," he said. But Axton shook his head. "At least get you fixed up them we can get going faster," he said, leaving Zer0 no chance to complain as they were teleported back to Sanctuary.

"Go see Dr. Zed," Axton ordered, sending Zer0 off. Mordecai watched him leave. "That was pretty… harsh," he said. "No wait, harsh isn't the right word to use." Axton stepped into the Raider's HQ. "Well, talking nicely and asking isn't a tactic that works on Zer0. You got to order him around," Axton explained. Mordecai scoffed and plopped himself on the couch in the map room. "Bloodwing, go get me a bottle of rakk ale," he ordered his bird. Obediently, she flew out of the room to Moxxi's to get him a bottle of rakk ale.

"Don't drink yourself sick," Axton warned as Bloodwing returned with a bottle of the booze. Mordecai popped the cap off the bottle and took a swig. "One bottle ain't enough to make me drunk, though it'll probably knock you out," he smirked, just as Zer0 returned.

Axton looked up from the holographic map. "I hope you didn't try to kill Dr. Zed for helping," he said. Zer0 shook his head and sat down. Then he glanced at Mordecai. "I noticed your limp, can you tell me what happened, I won't tell others," he asked. He was curious. Mordecai sighed and leaned back on the couch, taking another swig.

"Axton drove us off a cliff," he said, summing it up. Then he thought he might go into details. "We were driving from bandits, Axton couldn't stop in time, we drove off a cliff, my ankle got stuck under the turret, limp happened," he said. Zer0 just turned to Axton with a -.- on his helmet, before turning away. "That's gotta suck," he said. Axton paused.

"Did you just not speak in haiku?" he asked. Zer0 nodded. "Yeah. Haiku isn't the only way I know how to speak in," he said with a bit of annoyance. Mordecai didn't seem very bothered by it and just tilted the bottle up, gulping down more rakk ale.

"Haiku or not, who cares?" he said, stroking Bloodwing's soft feathers. "We got like, 9 days or something to find the others. That ain't a lot of time so let's get our butts out of here." Axton nodded. "Agreed. So dump that bottle aside and let's get going," he said, leaving the HQ.

Mordecai threw aside the empty bottle and followed Axton and Zer0, jumping off the balcony with his SNS sniper slung over his back. Bloodwing followed eagerly.

Navire shut the door behind her, walking up to caged-up Lilith. "Well, Zer0's free," she said softly. Lilith managed a small smile. "So, can you get me out?" Lilith asked hopefully. Navire shook her head. "Not yet. It'll be weird if too many Vault Hunters get free in such a short amount of time, and the Hyperion Soldiers have noticed that I may have something to do with it since I've never really agreed to their ideas," Navire said apologetically.

Lilith sighed and leaned back on her palms. "Well, it's nice to know that three of my friends are free and that they'll be here to help soon," she said, trying to sound nonchalant when inside she was raging at Navire for not just letting her go.

Navire flicked an ear. "Well, I can't do much about it. Give me at least till tonight and I'll have you out, okay? If not by tomorrow. I still have to find locations of all the others like I promised Mordecai and Axton," she said, her tail swishing impatiently.

Lilith and Navire sat in silence for the next 10 minutes, Lilith watching with interest the way Navire's tail swished, the way her ear flicked, and her furry paws. Navire just fiddled with her claws, sheathing and unsheathing them while Lilith watched the way her paw flexed when she sheathed and unsheathed them.

Then Navire got up. "I'm going to go, find those locations like I promised. I'll be back tonight. If I don't at least check on you by tonight, start worrying," Navire said, before she left the room and closed the door on Lilith. "Oh don't worry, I've already started worrying," Lilith mumbled.

Navire walked down her hallway with her usual confident stride. "You," she snarled, pointing at a random Hyperion Soldier on guard duty, "get a friend to replace you and follow me," she ordered. The Hyperion soldier rushed off to find someone else to take his place and hurried after Navire.

"Get me a list of locations of all the Vault Hunters. I want to pay them a visit," she ordered. The Hyperion Soldier looked around nervously. "Sorry ma'am, but I… I…" he stuttered. Navire's eyes slit as she glared at him. "You what, spit it out!" she snapped. "I don't have access to the list!" the Hyperion soldier yelped in fear, before cowering. "Please don't kill me…" he squeaked.

Navire grabbed his collar and pulled him close. "Who has access to the list?" she growled in his face. He gulped nervously, already starting to sweat. "_He_ d-d-does, ma'am," he stammered. Navire snarled and released him. "Get it from Him. Tell Him I sent you," she snapped, and the Hyperion Soldier scurried off. Navire shook her head and walked back to her office. _Incompetent soldiers…_

Out in the Wildlife Preserve, the three free guys walked carefully, keeping mostly out of sight from the stalkers and skags that they hadn't freed. Those they had freed recognised them and seemed not to bother them, and some even hissed at others of the same species who tried to attack them.

"Thank god we got friendlies," Mordecai said as he watched a bunch of skags stare at the as they passed. "We'd be dead meat if we didn't, especially that badass stalker," he said.

Axton nodded. "Agreed, we may as well just get on the badass stalker and rampage through," he suggested. But Mordecai and Zer0 both shot him a glare. "What? It was just a suggestion."

Maya curled up in a corner of her cell, staring out at the gloomy interior of the cage. "Please hurry up and come…. anyone," she whispered as a psycho stared at her from outside, mocking her with his freedom. A loader standing guard outside had tolerated the psycho for half an hour now, and was losing its temper. It grabbed the psycho, swung it around in circles and threw it out of the room.

Maya watched the psycho fly out, screaming and couldn't help but smile a little. The loader seemed to not bother about Maya, but it was just there because it had to. "I hate my job," it said in a robotic tone.

Maya sword she could hear footsteps, multiple footsteps, coming from outside. "Please be someone who isn't trying to rip my head off…"


	4. Chapter 4: Mighty Beast

**A/N. I want to thank both guests who have reviewed my story, it seems I have a few supporters! Thanks guys, this is really encouraging, and I'll definitely keep writing. I personally enjoy writing this too :3 Glad to know others like my writing too! And also nice to know that people like Navire 3 Well, here it is! Chapter 4!**

Axton swung his assault rifle over his shoulder and loaded it, mentally preparing himself for whatever could be inside. He wasn't even sure if any of the Vault Hunters were here in the Wildlife Preserve but if they didn't take a look, they'd never know.

Zer0 had his usual air of confidence as he drew his katana, swinging it a few times and going through his moves in his head. Mordecai just stared ahead with his sniper in hand, though his right hand was position so that he could grab his revolver out in case anything happened. Bloodwing was fairly tense as she perched on Mordecai's shoulder.

None of the guys knew what was inside but prepared themselves with weapons that would be effective on anything: Bandits, Loaders, Spiderants, Bullymongs, anything at all.

Axton took a deep breath. "You all ready?" he asked. Zer0 just nodded and Mordecai grunted. "We'll try to get in as stealthily as possible, and open fire only when necessary," Axton said. Mordecai shot him a glare but said nothing.

"Let's go," Mordecai snapped, walking ahead first. Zer0 followed, leaving Axton to catch up. Zer0 passed Mordecai. "I'll scout ahead," he said, before he disappeared into thin air. Mordecai crouched behind a wall and stared out, trying to find any sign of where Zer0 could have been among the quiet room.

Axton joined Mordecai and crouched with him. "Zer0 invisible?" he asked softly. Mordecai nodded, peeking out again. His sniper's scope served useful to see further, though he did not shoot. "From what I can see, some loaders and a guard or two, not much. But there are some doors further in that could possibly hold more loaders," he said, noticing the doors further in that looked just like the ones that would open up to a whole bunch of loaders.

Mordecai turned away from the corner and leaned against the wall, silently willing Zer0 to hurry up and come back. His fingers itched to pull the trigger and shoot something. Axton seemed patient as ever, merely fiddling with the assault rifle balanced across his knees.

Zer0 materialised in front of the others, and Mordecai leaned forward, eager to hear what lay beyond. "Plenty of Loade-" he began, but Axton cut him off. "Just tell us, no haikus," he snapped, feeling rather irritated. Zer0 flashed a -.- face at Axton. "Many Loaders out there, a bunch of guards, but there's quite a lot of places to hide so it shouldn't be a problem. I should think if we're fast Mordecai can snipe a few out," Zer0 said.

Mordecai thought about it. Sniping some loaders would be pretty fun, but without a good corrosive sniper, things would be a lot more complicated. "I suppose I can try," he said, before turning around the corner again and binging the sniper's scope to his eye.

Zoomed in, Mordecai felt great. Like he was a hawk. He could see so much up close and his targets couldn't see him. It made him feel good. His crosshairs came to rest on an EXP loader's leg, exactly the join where it joined with its hip. He took in a deep breath and pulled the trigger back, blowing the loader's leg off so it couldn't run up to them and explode.

The shot felt good. _Not bad… but let's try to hit its other leg now that it's on the ground, shall we, Mordy? _he thought to himself. With the EXP loader crawling on the ground, it was a bit hard to locate its other leg joint and he took a bit of time to readjust, before his was satisfied with the aim.

The EXP loader blew up as soon as the bullet penetrated its other leg, leaving a smoking mess of metal. Mordecai was quite certain Axton had said something, but he was too intent on finding his next target to hear. He swivelled his sniper a few degrees to the right and found a GUN loader, staring at the remains of the EXP loader in confusion. He took a few seconds to regain his aim on the GUN loader's arm shooting it off. The arm flew off and the GUN loader stared after it as it flew, wondering what to do with one hand only. Mordecai shot it in the leg and it dropped to the ground, before shooting it one last time in the head and blowing that up too.

The Hunter was about to turn his aim to his third target when something hit him on the back of the head, smashing his armour and whacking his head against the corner of the wall he was peeking out from. He slumped down, blacked out for awhile.

Axton growled at the guard who had just hit Mordecai and grabbed another guard, swinging him around before hitting the other board with his friend, sending him sprawling across the floor. "You do not bullshit around with us," he growled, unloading some bullets into both the guards.

Zer0 stabbed a guard right in the chest with his katana and rolled off the guard, before pulling his katana with him. Another guard rushed him and his as his feet touched the ground, he disappeared, appearing behind the confused guard and firing a few holes through the guard.

Axton grabbed Mordecai and pulled him into cover before any loaders saw what just happened. Mordecai's shields were coming back up again but his health was down. Zer0 knelt down on one knee next to Axton and looked at Mordecai. "Try wake him up," Axton said as he searched in his backpack for an Insta-Health vial that he had gotten from Hammerlock.

As Axton fished around his bag for the small vial, Zer0 tried all tactics to wake the sniper up. First he tapped his face, nothing. Then he called his name, nothing. Then he shook him, still nothing. The he drew his hand back and swung it across, slapping Mordecai hard. The Hunter jolted awake. "God dammit, Zer0, what the f-" Zer0 cut him off. "Shut up unless you want some loaders to come kill us," he hissed.

Axton turned to look at Mordecai from his search. "Oh look, you got him up," he noted, managing to grab a Health vial from the bottom of his bag. Mordecai felt sick and his head didn't feel too good. Axton searched around Mordecai's hand for a bare spot where he jabbed the needle of the vial. He instantly felt a bit more awake.

"Didn't you hear me call you earlier? A whole battle going on behind you and you didn't even notice," Axton said darkly, as he tossed the empty vial aside and helped Mordecai stand up. The Hunter grunted his thanks. "Yeah, well, when you're sniping, you tend to shut out the rest of the world. You wouldn't understand, you're no sniper," he retorted. Axton rolled his eyes. "Let's just get going."

* * *

Roland had resorted to studying patterns in the cage bars to keep his bored mind occupied. Some Nomad Pyro stood outside his cage as a guard,, his gaze occasionally flicking back to Roland who, at one point, snapped, "What? As if I can do much from this cage." The nomad had ignored him for the next hour.

The tanned soldier sighed and leaned back, staring out into the distance, willing the Vault Hunters or someone to come get him out. His legs were aching from not walking for so long but there was no space for him to stand up or walk about.

Roland had thought of possible ways he could get out, but without his guns or his sabre turret or anything at all, his options had been shortened down a lot. Attempting to pry open the bars with his bare hands got no results except a blister, and cursing and swearing was not helpful.

So now the soldier sat back and just stared out, feeling helpless. He didn't even know if any of the Vault Hunters were free. No one had gotten in contact with him. Not that he'd be alb to speak with them since his ECHO wasn't with him.

From further out the mess that was Sanctuary Hole, a sleek and tall figure stepped in, accompanied by some shorter men. A feline with a small torso and large ears and cheetah spots stepped into view, looking down at Roland with her curious, amber eyes. She flicked her tail and turned to a Hyperion Guard next to her. "I'll back back in a minute. You go out first," she told him. The Hyperion Soldier hurried out.

Navire dismissed the Nomad out too, before getting down on one knee to face Roland. "Remember me?" she asked, her tail swishing in anticipation.

Roland made a small smile. "You're Mordecai's girlfriend, aren't ya?" he asked. Navire blushed a bit. "I would rather say very close friend. We try maintain a professional relationship," she said, though she was certain her blush was pretty obvious.

Roland chuckled. "Navire, isn't it? You've certainly changed a lot," he said, remembering the last time he had seen the cheetah was when she was shorter, she had looked younger but not any less lively than she was now.

Navire looked back out. "Roland, I don't have a lot of time. But know that Mordecai, Axton and Zer0 are free and they'll come for you. Just give it time. 9 days is a long way to go. Don't give up," she said, letting Roland stroke the soft fur of her tail. She tickled him with her tail before standing up. "I need to go," she said, turning back to the Hyperion Soldier.

Navire became the fierce feline she was again. "Let's go! I don't all freaking day to waste out here in this hellhole," she spat, following the Hyperion Soldier out. The nomad took his place as guard once again. Navire never looked back once at Roland as she left.

* * *

Bloodwing flew back and came to rest on Mordecai's shoulder proudly, blood smearing her feathers and beak. Pieces of skag fur clung onto her feathers and wings. Mordecai gave her an approving smile and stroked her feathers as he walked over the remains of the skags that had attempted to attack the Vault Hunters.

"We just need to find that friendly badass stalker and we got ourselves a jackpot," Mordecai said, peering into exhibits. At one point they had passed a testing room where they saw a bunch of scientists injecting raw iridium into a poor rakk. They, of course, had walked right in and killed all the scientists.

Axton opened boxes and checked them for loot or weapons or anything that would come in handy. "I highly doubt it's still here, Mordecai. We freed it some time ago," he said. Mordecai shrugged. "Well, we can hope," he said.

Axton chose not to reply Mordecai and just proceeded, walking ahead with his assault rifle in his hands. He was getting a bit low on ammo in the clip. He reloaded his gun every so often, keeping the gun fully loaded at all times, or whenever possible.

Zer0 stayed ahead of Axton, keeping a lookout for anything that could come hurtling towards them or anything. He seemed very on the alert, as if he wasn't too comfortable being in the Preserve.

"Why so tense?" Mordecai asked, coming up to Zer0, who flicked his head back to Mordecai, then back out. "I do not know why, I just feel uneasy here, this is unusual," he said in his usual monotonous tone. Mordecai found that pretty hard to believe, since Zer0 didn't sound uneasy.

Axton had rummaged around boxes and drawers for any ammo he could find and he came up to them. "Nothing else, let's go," he said. Zer0 nodded and walked on, leaving behind the tense atmosphere.

"What up with him?" Axton asked Mordecai as he followed Zer0. Mordecai shrugged. "I dunno, he just said he ain't comfortable here. Even Bloodwing feels the tension, right girl?" he said, turning his attention to the bird on his shoulder. She flapped her wings a few times in agreement.

Zer0 turned back to see the other two guys lagging behind. "You all need to come, there is something important, you all must see it," he said, his voice betraying the urgency of the matter.

Axton and Mordecai hurried up to Zer0 and were greeted with a caged up mutant freak of sorts. It was at least three meters in height, with Rakk wings and a stalker's tail, legs of a varkid and the head of a skag and the body structure of a bullymong.

"Oh ew… that's disgusting," Mordecai said, cringing away from the freak of an experiment. Zer0 nodded. Axton frowned. "If we release it, do you think it'll be friendly, or try to kill us?" he asked. Mordecai shrugged. "I dunno, but it's worth a shot. I mean, if it's friendly then we're pretty much safe. If not… we're in some deep shit," he said.

Zer0 walked forward up to the bars of the enclosure the giant mutant was caged up in. All the time, the skag-eyes of the mutant watched Zer0, who kept a calm air of confidence as he looked at the lock. A digital lock with a 10-number password and a voice recognition scan. Zer0 had a 'WTF' displayed as he drew his katana and swung it back, bringing it down on the lock.

With some fizzing and a spark of electricity, the lock disabled and the bars to the enclosure raised, allowing the mutant to escape.

At first it was uncertain, taking a few tentative step out, sniffing at the Vault Hunters uncertainly, as if it wasn't sure if they were gonna mutate it further or was here to help. Mordecai, who had an experience with so many species, walked up to the beast and reached out a hand. He put his hand on the skag-head and scratched it, and the beast looked thoroughly pleased.

"I should think it's friendly, so long we keep it contented it ought to help us," Mordecai said, hopping onto the beast's back. For a few seconds the mutated beast flared up, anger lighting in its eyes, but Mordecai just stroked the beast gently, using his sword to scratch it. It calmed down and seemed fine with Mordecai riding it.

Axton was uncertain about the beast and worried about how it could suddenly decide to kill Mordecai, but he knew if he got aggressive with it, it would get angry. Mordecai didn't seem concerned. "So long it doesn't sense fear it won't attack," Mordecai called from on top the beast's back.

Axton forced himself to walk next to the beast, which was calm and collected, even with Mordecai on his back. _Don't fear it…. it'll kill us if you do,_ he thought as he walked next to be beast. He was quite certain it could sense his uneasiness but it didn't seem to mind.

The beast trampled on loaders and guards and anything in the way, easily flinging things aside. Zer0 was quite certain everyone knew about their presence but he didn't care. He thrust his sword through a guard, letting the bloody body slide off the hilt of his sword.

* * *

Maya peered out from her cage. There apparently was something going on outside and she silently prayed it was the Vault Hunters. But the roaring of the mutant beast from outside made her think it was just some skag gone loose.

The blue-haired Siren sighed. She sat back, knees close to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

The loader guarding her went outside to check on whatever was going on. Minutes later, the arm of the robot came flying back in and hit the bars of the cage. Maya raised her eyebrows, reaching out her arm in an attempt to grab the metal arm. No luck. The gap between each bar was too small.

Mordecai jumped off the huge beast, which he refused to name since he knew once he named it, there would be an attachment to it. And he didn't exactly want the giant beast following them around, though it'd be useful for taking down large numbers of enemies.

Zer0 ventured into the shack-like room, looking around. Nothing in the room. Or at least nothing of interest. Still, he searched around, tossing boxes aside for any possible hidden door or anything. Nothing.

Axton and Mordecai had no luck either, and the three returned to the beast. "No luck?" Axton said. Mordecai and Zer0 shook their heads.

Maya could sense a presence, possibly someone good, and she willed whoever it was to come to her rescue. But the sense of the person's presence faded away. She sighed, and curled up, tears starting to brim at her eyes.

Axton sighed. "We'll have to continue our search tomorrow, I think we're all tired and worn out," he said, turning to leave. Mordecai, Zer0 and the huge beast followed, and no one noticed the hidden door under the reception table.

**A/N. So that's chapter 4 for my viewers! I hope you like it, I don't intend for them to find everyone so soon so I'm trying to prolong the rescues for as long as possible but you can only hold a Vault Hunter back for so long. Please do favourite and rate if you liked it and leave a review! If you didn't like it, please do tell me why! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Resistance

**A/N. I'm so terribly sorry in the delay in chapters! Academic lessons have officially begun so that means I have less time to write fanfics. So I apologise if this chapter is a little less exciting than usual. But I want to thank Natureboy3 for commenting on my work! Thanks dude, you're awesome. Also you may have noticed the book cover :3 **

** Guest Thanks 3 Oops…. I may have gotten Roland's Scorpio turret mixed up with Axton's sabre turret *blushes* my bad. Also, I suppose I can tell you. Yes, Navire does have feelings for Mordecai (because I love Mordecai too and I'm just so self-indulgent).**

**Anyway, enough of my blabbering.**

Navire walked along the corridor, a Hyperion Soldier following her. "Ronan, please help me get all the Resistance Soldiers together at Sanctuary Raiders' HQ. We're going to bust out as many Vault Hunters as possible tonight," she said, flicking her ear dismissively.

The fake Hyperion Soldier known as Ronan saluted to Navire. "Yes, ma'am," he said, before hurrying off.

Navire had never told anyone about the Resistance, not even the Vault Hunters, though she felt as if she ought to tell them, starting with Lilith. The tip of her tail twitched as she headed past her office and to Lilith's holding room. Her jade-blue eyes lit up in amusement as she entered the room and heard Lilith counting back from a thousand by three.

"1000…. 997… 994…. 991… 988… 985… 982… oh! Hey Navire," the red-haired Siren said, nodding to the feline as she entered the room. Navire smiled. "Bored?" she asked. Outside, the sky was getting darker. Lilith nodded. "Very," she complained.

Navire took out an already messed up Rubics cube and tossed it to her. "Go crazy," she said as Lilith instantly grabbed the colourful cube and began to fiddle with it, trying to solve the puzzle.

As she watched Lilith twist the cube here and there, Navire wasn't sure where to start telling her about the Resistance. Eager to get the conversation going, she strung together a few words in a somewhat sensible question.

"So, Lilith. Ever heard of a group called the Resistance?" she asked. Lilith didn't look up from the cube which Navire was certain she just messed up more. "Yeah," she said. Navire paused. "How much about the Resistance do you know?" she asked.

Lilith shrugged. "Not much. I know it's a bunch of people against Hyperion, just like the Raiders. I only got snippets of info from conversations, but no one mentions them much. Some say the Resistance got destroyed by Hyperion and their leader got decapitated. Others say the Resistance leader died from a gunshot and the members split up, and very few say the Resistance is still around," Lilith said, recalling back bits of talks about the Resistance.

Decapitated? Killed from a gunshot? How offensive. Navire flattened her ears in annoyance. Who the hell had spread those rumours? Clearly Hyperion, since they wouldn't want people to have hope that the Resistance was still around.

"Why asking?" Lilith asked, snapping Navire back into reality. She noticed the Siren had solved two faces of the cube but the rest were still jumbled. "Oh nothing," Navire said, unsure if she should tell the Siren directly or not.

Silently, she stood up and walked to the other side of the room, looking at a picture of Hyperion's official opening. When things were still good. When she was still an ordinary feline, originating from Pandora. Then when her species was about to die out on Pandora, she had fled to Sanctuary, where Dr. Zed took her in.

Dr. Zed hasn't known she was the last of her original, primal kind and had mixed her DNA with that of a human, wiping her primal species out when he turned her into a human-like feline. But he had given her the ability to morph her structure back into her primal form, allowing her to run at incredible speeds and jump at amazing heights.

"Navire?" Lilith's voice broke into her thoughts. Navire turned. "Yeah?" Lilith tossed the solved Rubics cube back. "Why are you asking about the Resistance?" Lilith asked. Navire sat down as she messed up the cube again.

"It's just that… the Resistance is still here," she said, untwining the bandage from her arm to reveal a long gash running from her shoulder to her wrist. "I lead the Resistance."

Mordecai slumped on the floor of the cave that the three free Vault Hunters, all guys, had chosen to reside in for the night. His back was leaning against the big beast which curled up against the wall. His sniper rested on his lap and his revolver was in his hand as he snoozed. Bloodwing perched on the beast, with her beaked tucked in her wing.

Zer0 had offered to take the first shift of guard duty while Axton and Mordecai rested in the cave. The assassin was sitting by the cave entrance on a rock, which his katana in hand and constantly looking around. They were pretty far from the Wildlife Preserve.

Axton was lying on his back on the floor, which his Assault Rifle in his hands, though Zer0 was sure it'd take him awhile to load it up if anything happened. Silently, Zer0 slipped the assault rifle from his hands, reloaded it and put it back.

He sat back outside, starting into the distance. He sheathed the sword back and his hands raised up to his helmet, pulling it off. He flinched a bit at the sudden cold night air on his face, the skin pale from having been shielded from sunlight for so long.

His hair was a certain blue-green shade, the fringe flying in his face as the cool night wind blew across his face. His eyes were the same shade as his hair and he looked back at the cave, making sure Axton or Mordecai weren't up.

The Assassin slouched on the rock, holding the helmet in his hands. He sighed, realising how he wasn't exactly human, nor would he ever be. He heard someone in the cave getting up and quickly slipping his helmet back on. pretending like he never took it off in the first place.

Mordecai and Bloodwing stood at the cave entrance. "Is it midnight yet?" Mordecai asked, sounding tired. Zer0 looked up at the moon. "Not yet Mordecai, another two more hours, you cannot sleep?" he asked in his usual monotonous voice and haiku. Mordecai yawned. "Bloodwing woke me up," he explained, stroking the bird on his shoulder. Bloodwing flew over to Zer0 and perched on his shoulder, while Mordecai made a "whatever" gesture with his hand before going back into the cave.

Zer0 looked at Bloodwing and displayed a :) on his faceplate. Bloodwing pressed her head against Zer0's helmet in a loving manner and he stroked her in return. "I guess it's just you and me, I might take Mordecai's shift," Zer0 said, letting Bloodwing fall asleep on his shoulder.

Around 4am, Mordecai woke up again. He stared outside at the still dark sky. "Holy shit, how long have I been asleep?" he growled, rolling over and getting off the floor. He made his way past Axton who was still sleeping against the wall of the small cave.

Outside, Zer0 was still sitting on the rock, clearly about to fall asleep. Mordecai snorted to make his presence known. Zer0's head snapped up and he turned to see Mordecai. "Dude, how long have you chosen to stay up?" the Hunter said, fairly annoyed that Zer0 hadn't woken him up for his shift.

Zer0 shrugged and Mordecai huffed. "Go to sleep. I'll take the shift," he said, taking out his revolver and slinging his sniper over his back. Bloodwing woke as she felt Zer0 shift herself and the bird immediately flew over to Mordecai instead who took Zer0's place on the rock as the tired assassin went back into the cave to get some sleep.

In the morning, Axton had woken up to realise that no one had woken him up at night for a shift. Mordecai had sat outside for three hours, waiting for the sun to rise. Axton got up and went outside, putting a hand on Mordecai's shoulder.

The Hunter jumped in shock and whipped around, pointing his revolver at Axton. Axton jumped back. "Whoa whoa whoa!" he yelped. Mordecai was clearly shocked as he slowly lowered his gun. "Don't. Ever. Do that. Again," he breathed, "you nearly gave me a freaking heart attack," he said.

"Sorry," Axton shrugged and Mordecai shrugged it off. "No worries, but seriously, don't do it again or I'll seriously pull the trigger," he warned. Axton nodded. "Right. Now, why wasn't I woken up for a shift?" he demanded.

Mordecai sighed. "Zer0 was up and took over until like, 4am. Then I took over from there since you were still sleeping," he explained, jabbing an accusing finger in Axton's chest. Axton shook his head. "Next time, when it's my shift, get me up. Don't… don't take over my shift," he said. Mordecai sighed.

"Blame Zer0 for taking my shift first," he snorted, getting up and off the rock. "Since you want a shift so badly you can sit out here until Zer0 wakes up. He needs some rest so we won't be leaving until perhaps mid-morning or so," he said, walking back to the cave.

Axton watched Mordecai go and sat down on the rock, keeping his gun in his hand.

Salvador was bored out of his mind, he had punched the wall so many times that his knuckles hurt and there was barely a scratch on the wall. He sighed and put his head against the wall. "Dammit, putas," he cursed, before lifting a hand and giving the Hyperion Soldiers watching over him from the window above the finger.

One of the two Hyperion Soldiers nearly gave Salvador the finger back but his co-worker slapped his hand.

"You? Leader of the Resistance?" Lilith couldn't believe it. Navire glanced at Lilith while bandaging her arm back up. "Shocked?" she asked, flicking one ear. Lilith nodded. "Yeah… I mean. You of all people," she said, sounding flustered.

"It's no big deal." she said, her tail curled around the chair leg. "No big deal?" Lilith echoed. "You could easily bust us out!" she exclaimed. Navire sighed. "I could… but I couldn't. You see, I got a few Resistance Soldiers working here… acting like Hyperion Soldiers. And tonight we're gonna try get as many Vault Hunters out," she said.

"Isn't that the same concept as just getting us all out?" Lilith said with a hint of annoyance. Navire shook her head. "I'm doing multiple things at once. While I'm busting you guys out, I need to be kept as a Hyperion Commander so I can pinpoint the exact location of the Vault," she explained, "so if I just set all of you free, I'm going to get killed immediately since I'm already being suspected by others. Then I won't be able to find the Vault," she finished.

"So it's true…" a voice came from behind. Navire turned around and saw a real Hyperion Soldier standing there, pointing his gun at her and trying to look brave. "So you are a traitor!" he yelled. Navire shrugged. "Oh look, you again," she snarled, sauntering up. As she got closer, the Hyperion soldier started to look scared.

"Put down the gun, and I won't kill you," she said smoothly, looking at him, her green eyes narrow and sharp. The Hyperion Soldier didn't let up. "No, I will expose you for the fake you are!" he yelled, and Navire shrugged. "You'll regret not putting down that gun," she hissed, yanking the gun from his hands and sweeping him onto the floor with her tail. She inched the door shut and kicked the Hyperion soldier back down before he could regain his balance.

She put her foot on the Hyperion soldier's chest, her claws slid out menacingly. "You should have put down the gun. Look where one wrong decision has gotten you," she growled, pointing his gun at him. He whimpered and tried to say something, but Navire pulled the trigger back and one bullet made his head turn into bits of brain and bone and lots of blood.

Lilith watched Navire's techniques with interest as Navire tossed the run on the bloody floor and walked back to Lilith. "Looks like I'll just be suspected more, but I won't be tossed out yet until there's full proof that I'm really doing all this. Hyperion won't get rid of their leading Commander just yet," she said, though she sounded fairly uncertain.

Zer0 woke up feeling slightly more refreshed than when he had been before some sleep. He stretched himself as he stood up and peered out of the cave instinctively. Mordecai was sitting propped up against the cave wall and feeding Bloodwing with what looked like possibly the hand of a midget.

Mordecai acknowledged Zer0 with a brief nod. Zer0 returned the nod. "Where is Axton?" he asked. Mordecai motioned with the hand he was feeding Bloodwing from to outside the cave. Bloodwing squawked as her food moved from her and she hopped after his hand, her neck stretching to reach for the food.

Mordecai turned his attention back to Bloodwing as Zer0 headed outside. Axton was still sitting on the rock he had been on earlier in the night. Axton turned his head to see who was coming out. "Sleep well?" he asked. Zer0 nodded and Axton got off the rock, tucking his assault rifle back in his bag.

"Is Mordecai ready to leave? We have only a week left so we better not be wasting time," the commando said, heading towards the cave. Bloodwing soared out of the cave and the Hunter followed, his eyes shifting from Zer0 to Axton. "Are we gonna go or not?" he asked.

Axton turned on his heel. "Yeah, we're going," he said, beginning to walk off. He looked around for the nearest Fast Travel or Catch-a-Ride station. He was about to ender how they were gonna survive walking across psycho-loader territory without a car when he spotted the familiar Catch-a-Ride station, waiting for its Runners to be deployed.

Once they were all in the black MG Runner; Axton in the driver seat, Zero and Mordecai sharing the gunner seat, they took off into dangerous land, leaving tire marks in the dirt behind them.


	6. Chapter 6: Unused and alone

**A/N. So… chapter 5 was a little shorter than expected and I've realised how Brick hasn't been introduced into the story. But I don't know Brick too well so he may or may not be in the story at all, I'm not sure. If he comes in, he's in. If he doesn't, then oh well. I apologise to the Brick fans out there, really sorry guys! **

** Guest Well! Apparently someone likes Navire so much he/she (I'm sorry, I never really found out your gender) is willing do to art for her! Of course I'll give you the permission. Just to let you know she's a cheetah with a human posture, red hair like Lilith tied up in a ponytail. She wears khaki long pants, has two swords across her back (she's a dual wielder), wears a grey shirt and her eyes are green :) Thank you so much! Oh yes, her main weapon choice is Assault Rifles and her secondary weapon choice is the sniper.**

**...So, I'll stop blabbering now.**

Maya sat curled up in her little confinement cell, her knees against her chest, her head resting on her knees. She had cried for the past 2 hours until she had no tears left to cry out. She had felt the presence of someone so close yet so far away, and no one had come to help her. She had already been threatened that if no one got her out in 7 days, she'd be doomed. And honestly, she took that threat very seriously.

She was scared.

The usual, confident and slightly boastful Siren had been reduced to a frightened little girl, unsure of what would become of her. Her ECHO was no where in sight and her shield was not with her, though it'd be somewhat pointless.

She had hoped for some form of communication with someone, anyone, even the nomad guarding her, but no one had spoken with her. No one at all. She had tried to start a conversation with the nomad watching over her, but he never spoke. He just stood there. Didn't even acknowledge her presence.

Now, she curled up against the corner of the cell, her eyes darting from one place to another, looking for some way to entertain herself. She had counted to a thousand and back, she had tried to decipher the meanings of large words, she had twiddled her thumbs, she had cried. But she was bored again.

"Someone, please talk to me," she begged. The nomad guard didn't acknowledge her. He just stood there and stared out, the gun in his hands. She wondered how long more she'd be in here, before someone saved her or she got dragged off to wherever she'd die.

Zer0 perched himself in the gunner seat, in which the turret had been modified to make space for both the Assassin and the Hunter, who kept his sniper balanced on the edge of the gunner seat and faced outwards, scanning the surroundings as Axton drove through.

Mordecai would occasionally peer through his sniper scope, then he'd return to his normal view. Bloodwing sat on his shoulder and preened herself.

Axton had no idea where he was driving. He was simply…. driving. Letting his hands take the Runner wherever it wanted to go. Neither Zer0 nor Mordecai had questioned that, since neither of them had a lead on where else to go.

Eventually, the Runner stopped outside a Fast Travel station. Axton jumped out of the Runner, landing in the firm dirt ground. Mordecai stayed up in the gunner seat until Zer0 got out.

Axton sighed as he stared at his options on where to go from the Wildlife Preserve. "Any one of you want to go any specific place?" the Commando asked, turning his head to look at his comrades.

Mordecai shrugged, nearly causing Bloodwing to fall off. She dug her talons in his shoulder hard and Mordecai tapped her talons, warning her to ease off. The bird loosened her grip and flew over to the Fast Travel station, peering over to see the screen.

Zer0 didn't seem to have any specific idea on where to go to look for another Vault Hunter. "I think Bloodwing has an idea," Mordecai said, motioning to his pet bird who was tapping on the Fast Travel station screen with a talon.

Axton looked down at where Bloodwing seemed interested to go. He raised his eyebrows at Bloodwing's suggestion.

"The Dust?"

Zer0 didn't seem shocked at the idea, "It's a possibility," he said, beginning to click on the screen to send them to The Dust. Axton frowned. "I don't see why anyone would keep a Vault Hunter in that god forsaken place," he retorted. Zer0 shrugged. "Worth a shot."

Mordecai just stood there and watched Zer0 and Axton, not saying anything. Then his sixth sense kicked in. He felt that something was coming up from behind, a mysterious presence. But when he turned, there was no one.

"Hey Mordecai, you coming?" Axton called. Mordecai turned his head briefly. "Wait wait, give me a minute," he said, walking further from Axton and Zer0. He walked past the Runner and further out, where he noticed a skag sitting out on the road. The skag, oddly, had bright purple eyes.

"That's not right," Mordecai said, taking a few tentative steps towards the odd skag. It cocked its head to one side as Mordecai approached it. Instinctively, Mordecai glanced at his shoulder for some sort of reassurance from Bloodwing, except that his bird was still with Axton and Zer0. He sighed and got closer to the skag.

The skag stood up and Mordecai flinched a little, before reaching out his hand again. He knew how risky it was to attempt to touch a skag, especially one with oddly coloured eyes. It wasn't normal. Not normal was not good.

Suddenly, the skag leapt out at Mordecai, who yelped in surprise at the sudden movement. He jumped backwards but the skag rammed itself into Mordecai, sending him sprawling across the ground.

"Mordecai!" Axton called, running over to help him. The skag was foaming at the mouth and its eyes were wild with adrenaline. Zer0 ran towards the skag, drawing his sword and preparing to swing it down on the skag while Axton helped Mordecai up.

The skag strafed to the side from Zer0's sword just in time and jumped at Mordecai again, who rolled away in time and sprang to his feet. He drew his revolver and pulled the trigger in its face, jamming a bullet into the skag's jaw.

The skag roared out loud, summoning plenty more skags into the battlefield. "Shit," Axton hissed, deploying his Sabre turret. The turret took out skag after skag, easily turning round to shoot another one to the ground.

Zer0 had gone into Decepti0n mode and was creeping up behind the purple-eyed skag who was looking around for Mordecai. Just before he slipped out of Decepti0n, he swung his sword at the skag. The blade tore a line into the skag's leg and it roared, turning on Zer0, who jumped away in time and took out a shotgun.

The purple-eyed skag turned away from the gun and leapt into the bloody fray again, making Zer0 lose sight of his target. Mordecai was picking off skags one by one with his revolver while Bloodwing caused a distraction.

Mordecai turned just in time to dodge the purple-eyed skag jumping for him. "Shit man, what do you want from me!" he yelled, putting a full clip of bullets from his revolver into the skag's hindquarters. The skag roared and bowled Mordecai over, but the nimble Hunter easily sprang to his feet again, though his hip was starting to hurt.

Anger flashed in the skag's eyes as it whipped around and locked its fierce, purple eyes on Mordecai. The Hunter turned and sprinted away, taking out his revolver and reloading the clip, before turning around and putting a few bullets through the skag's eye.

Axton swung the butt of his assault rifle at a skag's head, knocking it to the ground and possibly rendering it unconscious. Another skag pounced on him from behind and Axton dropped with the sudden weight on his back. He reached his arm back and grabbed his tomahawk from under the skag, swinging it upwards and hitting the skag's chin, causing it to slide off his back.

An Alpha skag latched itself onto his arm with sharp teeth, unwilling to let go. Axton yelled in pain and used his free hand to slide out his pistol, putting it right up against the skag's head and pulling the trigger multiple times. Blood sprayed everywhere and the skag's jaw went limp and it dropped to the ground. Blood had seeped through his sleeve and Axton hissed, trying to ignore the pain as he took out a pup skag by smashing its head into the ground with his heel.

Mordecai got knocked aside by an Elder skag and the purple-eyed skag rounded on him, swinging a massive paw and knocking Mordecai down again. It slammed Mordecai against a rock and rammed its armoured head into his stomach, causing the Hunter to double over in pain. The unnaturally large skag rammed its head into Mordecai again, making him drop to his knees.

The skag pinned Mordecai against the rock with its oversized paws, ready to snap at him again. Mordecai closed his eyes and expected the worse, when the weight suddenly lifted off him. He opened his unseen eyes again to see the skag jumping around frantically with a tailed figure on its back.

Sharp ears of the figure pricked and swivelled towards Mordecai but the sniper couldn't see clearly yet. He blinked a few times, willing his vision to focus sooner so he could see his saviour.

The sleek figure pried open the skag's mouth and chucked a live grenade down it's throat. "Eat this, ya bastard!" she laughed, springing herself away from the skag before it blew up from the insides, sending pieces of its guts and intestines flying everywhere.

She didn't flinch as she watched the skag explode, but instead her ears twitched in amusement. The other skags had either been killed by Mordecai, Axton and Zer0 or had fled, some falling off the cliffside, others retreating to far safety.

With an air of grace and confidence, the feline figure turned on her heel and approached Mordecai who still sat against the rock, watching as she approached him, her tail swishing with faint amusement. She knelt down and locked her intoxicating green gaze with his and smiled. "Hi Mordecai," she purred, the sound resonating deep in her throat.

Mordecai attempted a weak smile in return. "Hey Navire," he said, before his voice was interrupted by a cough. He sighed and leaned back against the rock. Navire's expression changed into one of worry and she leaned closer to Mordecai. "You okay? Can you stand up?" she asked. Mordecai glanced at her before struggling to get up. He used the rock to balance himself as he stood up.

Navire looked him up and down. "I suppose we could get you somewhere a bit safer before I take a look at you," she said, before someone grabbed her waist and swung her into the air. She made a feline yelp as her legs swung freely in the air before she was put down. She turned around, her ears flat with annoyance, before she saw who it was. Her ears straightened again and she giggled.

"Axton! I had no idea you were so glad to see me," she giggled, blushing a little. The commando smiled in return. "Well, you just saved us from going through hell with that beast. What's up with that skag's eyes anyway?" he asked.

Navire frowned as she walked back to Mordecai and began helping him to her modified Runner. "It's a test subject from the Wildlife Preserve that went loose. I don't know the specifics of the experiment that was done on the skag, but I sure as hell know the results weren't pretty," she said, eyeing Axton's still-bleeding arm.

Zer0 approached Navire with caution at first, still holding his sword in hand, in a position that showed no hostility, but was also ready to be swung into action. Navire glanced over at Zer0 as she helped Mordecai into her Runner. "Zer0, you still don't trust me too well?" she asked, kinking the tip of her tail.

Zer0 tilted his helmet to the side ever so slightly. "I'm just a bit jumpy from the fight," he said, before climbing into the gunner seat of Axton's Runner. "We're going somewhere. Don't ask yet. Just trust me, okay?" Navire asked as she revved up the engine of her Runner.

Axton glanced back at Zer0 who returned the look, complete with a ? symbol. Axton shrugged. "Alright, I guess," he said, before he followed Navire out with the Runner.

Lilith woke up from her nap with a start. For a few seconds, she couldn't recognise her surroundings, till she remembered that she was still locked up. Navire had told her she was going to find and assist the free Vault Hunters, so Lilith had been left alone to entertain herself.

She didn't know where Navire was now, but she hoped that wherever she was, she was with the others by now. Hours had passed since the feline warrior had left and Lilith was worrying. "Don't worry, Lilith, Navire's a competent Vault Hunter and a Warrior, she can handle herself for a few hours. I mean, she's lived for years with minimal bullet holes!" she told herself, hoping it would give her some confidence.

Lilith's mind flicked to Roland next. Nice, caring, brave Roland. She sighed, wondering where in Pandora he was locked up. Or if he was locked up at all. She began to list the possibilities of where someone with a brain would lock up the leader of the Crimson Raiders. Obviously it had to be somewhere with plenty of guards or with a very good stronghold, or he'd be out by now.

The red-haired Siren sighed and sat back, stretching her legs out, thinking how much worse her situation could be. She had someone to talk to, someone she knew and trusted, she had things to do, and her mind was usually occupied when Navire was around.

Idly, she reached for the Rubics cube by her foot and began fiddling with it, messing up the 9 by 9 cube.

Navire stopped the Runner outside a rundown shack by a river, in the middle of a hillside where few people had ventured. Even Hyperion hadn't bothered about this barren piece of hilly land and had left it alone, rendering it safe for Navire's personal use. Even buzzards didn't fly by here. At the most a varkid or two came here but left in little time when it realised there was nothing much around here except a river and a shack.

The sleek feline leapt out of the runner, before climbing up the gunner seat to assist Mordecai in coming down. The Hunter had kept silent throughout the journey, assessing his own injuries from the gunner seat though he kept his revolver in his lap in case anything happened.

Axton pulled up beside Navire's Runner, letting Zer0 get out of the car first before he climbed out. "So, this is your hideout?" the Commando asked as Navire headed towards the door. Without looking back, she nodded. "Yes, no one comes by here. Not even Hyperion or buzzards. Not even stalkers or skags or threshers. Nothing," she assured him, easing the door open. It creaked as she opened the door and Zer0 wondered it the door would give way.

The shack was fairly small but Navire had kept it neat, unlike Hammerlock's own shack. There was sufficient space in the room for 4 people. There was a weapons crate by the wall which held an old slag sniper and 2 assault rifles and an ammo crate which crammed a few pistols and some grenades. Smaller boxes on the table had ammo in them.

"I'll be honest, for a small shack you can sure make space," Mordecai said, sitting down on the couch. Navire smiled as she searched through the cupboard for a med-kit. "I've taken lessons in interior designing. I utilise all the space I have," she explained.

Zer0 admired the blades and swords mounted on the wall. A longsword, a broadsword, two kunais, a fencing sword, a dagger, an axe, and two scimitars on the table. "You collect swords?" he asked. Navire looked up from her search for the med-kit. "What? Oh, my swords. Yes, I do collect swords. I do like my melee weapons very much," she said, before crouching back down and sticking her head in the cupboard.

Zer0 glanced at the scimitars on the table and realised how they were polished and shining, just like the blades on the wall, but they had dried blood on them. Then he glanced at Navire's back to see if she had any melee weapons on her. Nothing.

"Are the scimitars your choice of melee weapons?" he asked. Navire pulled herself out of the cupboard with a med-kit in her furry hand. "Sorry?" she said, closing the cupboard and standing up. Zer0 repeated his question. "Oh those. Yeah, I like my scimitars," she said, approaching Mordecai and kneeling on the ground by the couch.

"You dual wield?" Zer0 pressed. He loved to know more about Navire's melee tactics and her choice of using two scimitars. Usually people used just one blade. Seeing someone with two blades was fascinating to him.

Navire nodded. "I have trained to dual wield any blade possible, even a digistructed sword like yours," she said, before she turned her full attention to Mordecai. She removed his shirt and the red cloth he had loosely draped around himself and hung it over the couch. Mordecai didn't really care, he just watched as Navire worked silently.

He knew she thought he was awfully thin, but he had never liked eating. Though he maintained a lean frame. He generally kept himself on the tall-lanky-lean side, unlike Axton from preferred more bulk. Navire took out a health vial and jabbed his lower ribcage with it, causing Mordecai to wince a bit.

She tossed the empty health vial across the room, allowing it to land in a box which clinked with more glass. "What's in the box?" Mordecai asked out of curiosity. "Empty vials," Navire said simply, "you have no idea how fast I go through those things. Bring at least 15 to work with me everyday," she said.

After awhile, Navire stood up. She patted Mordecai's arm. "You go rest a bit, wear your shirt if you want," she said, before grabbing the kit and going over to Axton. Mordecai pushed himself into a sitting position and grabbed his shirt off the couch, slipping it over his head. He left the red cloth on the couch, deciding he'd wear it later.

Mordecai looked around the room at everything Navire kept. He noticed a few unopened boxes of health vials and glanced over to Navire who was cleaning the Alpha skag bite Axton had gotten, wondering how many times she had to come back here and heal herself without anyone to help her.

He was amazed at how independent Navire was. She had all the necessities in this little shack. Health vials, med kits, money, guns, ammo, shields, blades. He'd probably just have bottles and bottles of rakk ale.

Bloodwing hopped onto the couch curiously and perched herself on Mordecai's bent knee. He lifted his head to look at his bird who squawked at him, before lying down again, keeping his knee bent for Bloodwing to perch on.

Navire had gone out to the river to wash her hands, leaving the three guys in the room for awhile. The river was just outside the shack so Navire was back in a minute, drying her hands on her shirt. When she came back, she sat on the couch with Mordecai. "Mordecai, can I ask you something?" she asked, her tail curled with curiosity. Mordecai shrugged. "I can't guarantee an answer, but sure," he said.

"What's with that metal thing around your forearm?" Navire asked, motioning to the metal clasp that covered the majority of his forearm. It had a belt of some sorts tied around it. Mordecai sighed. "When I was younger I fractured my forearm so this was my support. When the fracture healed, I didn't bother to take it off," he said. Navire cocked her head to one side. "Then…. why'd ya wrap a belt around it?"

Mordecai shrugged. "I honestly have no idea," he said, twisting his arm around to look at his hand. Navire had a certain look in her eyes that Mordecai recognised. "You have more questions for me, don't you?" he asked. Navire nodded eagerly. "You're awfully clever," she said.

Mordecai smiled. "One bottle of rakk ale and I'll grant you 3 questions," he said. Navire rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the couch. "Deal," she said, before she opened the cupboard again and took out a bottle of rakk ale.

Mordecai popped the cap of the bottle and took a swig, while Navire sat down again. "So, now you owe me three answers," she said. Mordecai nodded while he gulped down the alcohol. "Fire away," he said.

"How old are you, honestly?" Navire asked. Her eyes were round with excitement, making Mordecai feel as though he shoulder really tell her the truth. "I'll be 42 this year," he said, not really caring if Zer0 or Axton heard. Navire giggled and Mordecai asked the same question in return. "I turned 31 two months ago," she said. Mordecai raised an eyebrow. "You don't look 31," he said. Navire tilted her head to one side. "Don't I? How old do I look?" she asked. Mordecai took a quick look at Navire. "I'd say mid 20s," he said, shrugging. Navire blushed.

"Okay okay, next question. What colours can't you see?" Navire asked. Mordecai paused. He didn't know that Navire knew he was colourblind. "Wait, you know I'm colourblind?" he asked. Navire nodded, but didn't explain how she knew. Mordecai sighed. "Some shades of blue and green," he said.

"Then what's your favourite colour?" Navire asked, expecting a colour he could see. "Teal," came the reply. Navire's tail kinked. "Teal? Can you see teal?" she asked. Mordecai shook his head. "No, but I imagine it's a nice colour. I've been told it's a sort of blue-green," he said.

"Okay, last question!" Navire giggled. Mordecai raised an eyebrow. "You've asked me three questions," he said. Navire frowned playfully. "That previous one doesn't count," she said. Mordecai shrugged and gave in. "Fine, one more question," he said.

Navire seemed to get serious and slightly uncertain, as if she wasn't too sure about the last question. She leaned in. "Mordecai, do you love me?"

Mordecai was stunned at the question. That was a really odd question. One he wasn't too sure about answering. But then he pulled her closer and gave her a quick kiss. Navire was shocked, her eyes wide with excitement. Mordecai had no idea what he just did, but he said, "Think about that for an answer."

With that, Navire got off the couch and wandered to her sword display where she took down the dagger and began to polish it. Mordecai quickly looked at Axton and Zer0 to see if any of them had noticed, which, to his relief, none of them had. Zer0 was not in the room while Axton was sleeping. He breathed a sigh of relief before he sat up and began to drape the red cloth around him again.

Outside, it was dark, probably quite late at night. Mordecai hadn't realised how fast time had home by while he and Navire were chatting, but he thought he might as well, get some rest. Bloodwing flew back to him as he lay down on the couch and closed his eyes.

Axton woke up on the chair, his assault rifle still in his lap like it had been last night. He yawned and stretched himself, grabbing the gun and pushing himself off the chair. Mordecai was still asleep on the couch while Navire was sleeping on the table with her longsword across her stomach and her hand on the sword. Zer0 was sitting against the wall with his legs outstretched, obviously asleep from the "Zzz" displayed on his faceplate.

Axton walked past Mordecai on the couch silently, before he eased the door open as lightly as possible and left the room. Outside the sun was still just peeking over the horizon, not yet fully up, but visible. Axton went to sit by the river that passed through the terrain, enjoying the peace he had for now. He knew it wouldn't be long before his day would be spattered in blood again.

Back inside the shack, Mordecai stirred. He grunted and turned over before opening his eyes. In his hand he held an empty bottle of rakk ale. The sniper yawned before pushing himself off the couch, swinging his legs over the side and standing up. He looked around the room for the others.

Mordecai crept outside the shack and joined Axton, making his presence noticeable with his footsteps. Axton turned to see who was coming and turned back to face the river when he recognised Mordecai.

"Enjoying the peace while you can?" Mordecai asked, coming up to join Axton, who nodded in return. "Yeah. It's the only peace I'll get in awhile," Axton agreed, facing the river which calmly passed through, the clear water going over the rocks smoothly.

Mordecai stayed with Axton for 15 minutes before he got up. "I'm going back inside, you enjoy your peace," he said, before he went back into the shack.

Navire and Zer0 were still sleeping in the shack and Mordecai decided to wake them up. He nudged Zer0 with a foot and shook Navire gently.

"Huh, wha…?" Navire mumbled as she woke up, hr voice tinged with drowsiness. She rolled off the table and held the polished longsword in her hand for a few seconds, before she mounted it back on the wall.

Zer0's "Zzz" displayed blinked away as he got up, agile as he was, and got to his feet. "Axton's outside," Mordecai said, when he noticed Zer0 looking around for the Commando. Zer0 nodded and nudged the door open, poking his head out to see Axton still by the river.

Navire yawned again, showing her white fangs. Her tongue curled in the most adorable way as she yawned, before she closed her jaws again and blinked sleep from her eyes. "Six days, guys. Six days to find 4 Vault Hunters," she said. Mordecai nodded. They'd need to get their act together if they were to find their friends. Apparently, all of them took that threat from the mysterious guy very, very seriously.

**A/N. Wow! That's a long chapter! I suppose it's to make up for the previous shorter chapters. My inspiration just flowed today. This chapter (yes, I've noticed) focused on Navire and Mordecai a lot! Please remember to review, rate and follow if you like it!**


	7. Chapter 7: Dusty footsteps

**A/N. Well! Chapter 6 seems to have gotten a lot of attention from my fans! I love you guys!**

**Guest: So far, Zer0, Mordecai, Axton, Lilith and Roland have met Navire already, I'll probably have Salvador and Maya meet her later on. Take your time with that cover art! Don't let me rush you, ya? Yes, Navire is really the last of her kind, but her original primal species is gone no thanks to Dr. Zed. CHEESEBURGERRR. And aw…! You really think Mordecai and Navire will be good together? Other pairings… never really thought about it. So far I know that there will be RolandxLilith, I might consider AxtonxMaya and maybe Zer0xAngel if I bring her in. The Mysterious man? Oh you'll know him soon! I won't give anything away about him. DOGGIES. Thanks for the info on Brick! Oh, and you want more Ronan? So let there be more Ronan!**

**BrutusSilentium: Thanks so much for the insight on Brick! And glad you like my story too, -huggles- And very glad you like Navire's odd hobby and obsession with blades! I've intended her to be more of a melee character like Zer0, though her choice of weapons would include Snipers and Assault/Combat rifles.**

**And now I shall shut up and start writing.**

"Argh… I'm so bored!" Lilith wailed from her cage. She had messed up and solved the Rubics cube more than ten times already and she was really bored. Navire hadn't returned, though a Resistance Soldier Ronan had come to visit her once or twice.

Now the red-haired Siren lay down in her cage, legs up against the wall, back on the floor and stared out. A few Hyperion Soldiers had given her things to eat, but they were pretty gross stuff. But she managed.

Lilith yawned a bit and tried to think about how long she'd been confined to the small cage. "Let's see, Navire visited me for 3 days, and day 1 I hadn't met her so…. 4 days? I could have been out for more," she mumbled to herself, her eyelids drooping. She wasn't sure when was the last time she slept, but she was certain she'd gone at least 24 hours without sleep.

The Siren closed her eyes and let sleep carry her mind off in its gentle arms, calming her, refreshing her.

"Lilith," a rather rough voice broke into her dreams. Lilith's eyes snapped open and she looked up, seeing a blurry figure standing over her. She blinked a few times, clearing her vision. A fairly tanned man in Hyperion Soldier looked down at her, with a comforting smile. His grey eyes were familiarly stunning.

Lilith rolled onto her knees and smiled back. "Hey Ronan," she yawned, rubbing her eyes with a hand. Ronan nodded. "Well, it seems boredom hasn't wiped your memory," he joked, crouching down to get to Lilith's eye level.

Lilith giggled a bit, glad that someone was here to talk to her. Ronan's expression then changed to one of seriousness. "I've gotten news from Navire that she's with the three other Vault Hunters and they're out at her shack. They're safe, though Mordecai is a bit out. They'll be making their way here soon," Ronan explained.

That news was brilliant to her. But she knew there was more to it. "Go on," she prompted Ronan. "Do you happen to know another Siren, called Angel?" he asked.

Angel.

"Yeah…?" Lilith said, getting suspicious. Why would Ronan want to know about Angel? But she chose not to say anything more, though she gave Ronan a look that she wanted an explanation.

"Good. We're going to get in contact with her, see if she can help us. I'll come bad in later today, for now, have something to eat. Because we're gonna bust you out very soon," Ronan said, slipping her an energy bar and something else that somewhat resembled chicken, though Lilith was certain that was not chicken.

Ronan left the room with the confidence of a Hyperion Soldier and closed the door behind him.

He walked down the hallway again, instantly changing from Ronan the kind-hearted, courageous and loyal Resistance soldier to Ronan, the war-torn, brutal Hyperion Soldier. In his arms he held his assault rifle, a beautiful Dahl Reserve Lascaux, which he described as the "gun of the bulls".

Ronan took the stairs up to Navire's office, which he easily opened with a gentle push. Navire's table was neat, with papers stacked nicely and placed accordingly around her table, though she had left a space for her work or when she needed to write. Her chair had a few strands of her fur, which Ronan immediately took to make sure no one took it to use for DNA scans or anything.

On the walls, Navire hung pictures of brutal Hyperion massacres, raids on the Bloodshot Stronghold, attacks on Liar's Berg. Ronan had never really understood why Navire would put pictures of these things on her wall, though he didn't think he wanted to know.

Ronan walked over to Navire's office table and bent down, opening one of the drawers with the key she had given him. Trusted him with. He unlocked the drawer and slid it out, taking the notes with Angel's location and the pistol she kept in her drawer. He replaced it with his own pistol and searched Navire's table for a piece of note paper.

He grabbed a pen out of the hand-made pencil holder Navire had made and scribbled down on the paper.

Ronan read the paper over twice to make sure if sounded fine, and he put it in the drawer with his pistol, sliding it shut and locking it back up. He tucked Navire's pistol into his backpack and headed out of the office, closing the doors and locking it behind him like they always were.

He headed down to the kiln where a giant fire burned. Ronan looked at the keys to Navire's office and drawer and then threw it into the fire, letting it melt. If he didn't make it back, at least no one else would have access to Navire's office.

Now he needed to find Leonard, the other Resistance Soldier. Ronan headed back up the stairs and out of the HQ. He was going to leave Opportunity, but he was certain no one would miss him. Insignificant Ronan.

Ronan took the Fast-Travel out to the first safe place: Sanctuary. There, he could attempt to ECHO Leonard, though he was't sure if Leonard still had his ECHO or he had gotten rid of it. But it'd be worth a shot.

In Sanctuary, Ronan got to work. As he walked towards the Crimson Raiders' HQ where he could get out of hid Hyperion uniform, he began to ECHO Leonard.

"Pick up, pick up," he hissed as he pushed open the Raiders' HQ door and walked in, closing it behind him. Leonard hadn't answered, so he sighed and just got to work on removing his Hyperion uniform.

Apparently no one in Sanctuary cared that a "Hyperion" soldier was walking around, either that or everyone knew Ronan well enough.

Once he was down to his shirt and shorts, Ronan threw the Hyperion uniform aside and ran up the stairs, opening Roland's safe where he stashed extra clothes. He noticed that the safe was filled with other's clothes, mainly Axton's and Rolands, though he noticed something Mordecai would probably wear and one of Maya's gloves.

He rummaged through the large safe till he found an extra set of clothes in the safe that was actually his and he silently thanked Roland for not throwing his clothes out. He slipped on his shirt and his pants, slinging a strap that carried his gun and some extra ammo. He clipped on his shield and his ECHO, before attempting to contact Leonard again.

"What up?" a voice came through. Ronan breathed a sigh of relief. "Leonard, it's Ronan. Where are you?" Ronan asked.

"Ronan! Oh, glad you ECHOed. I'm hanging out in The Dust, why?" Leonard's voice came with some static.

"I'm out of Opportunity. I need you to follow me to find Angel," Ronan explained as he searched the HQ for more ammo and possibly better guns.

"Angel? The Siren? You're crazy, man. But I'm up for a challenge. What's the risk?" Leonard asked in return.

"Death, Leonard. Death," Ronan huffed as he stuffed his backpack with some ammo he found in a box.

"I like it. Meet me out in the Dust soon," Leonard said, getting excited. "But why'd ya need Angel?"

"It's a long story, Leonard. I'll explain when I reach," Ronan replied, before cutting off his ECHO as he left the HQ and closed the door behind him.

Navire had jabbed Mordecai's ribcages with health vials two more times in the morning, which he had been grateful for. Now he sat on the couch, reloading his snipers while Navire stocked her bag up again.

Axton was ready, his bags with ammo, health vials and guns, his shield fully recharged, his guns all loaded completely. "So where are we going?" he asked, looking up from his assault rifle.

"Back to Opportunity, Axton. I don't care anymore whether anyone finds out what I've been doing against Hyperion. We're going to free Lilith and get Ronan," Navire explained as she closed her back and took her scimitars off the table, placing them in their sheaths across her back.

Zer0 seemed to like the plan. He watched Navire carefully, the way she held her scimitars, the way she sheathed them, the way she moved when she held them. It was all so fascinating to him. He hadn't met someone else with such a high skill in wielding a blade before. Axton just swung his tomahawk with pure force and no skill, Mordecai was rarely seen using his sword.

There was a grace about Navire when she wielded a blade. Zer0 liked that form and grace.

"Are we ready to go?" Navire asked, looking around the room. She got nods in return and she smiled. "Alright them. Let's go get Lilith," she said, pushing open the door and stepping out of her shack.

Ronan had gotten himself a Runner from the Catch-a-Ride station when he had been teleported to The Dust. He knew where someone like Leonard would reside. He jumped into the Runner and pressed down on the accelerator, driving out into the sandy roads.

He drove over bumps and went off road, going further out to a hilly area. There was a ladder coming from a wooden inn higher up on a sandy cliff, and that's where Ronan wanted to go. The ladder came from above and stopped halfway, preventing most psychos and midgets from reaching the ladder.

Ronan bent his knees and sprang up, catching the ladder with his two hands, pulling himself further up the ladder before his legs caught hold of the ladder rung. He climbed up easily, the training from being a Hyperion solder paying off.

He swung himself up the last part of the ladder, landing safely on the cliff top. The wooden inn looked abandoned and old and Ronan took out his Dahl assault rifle, ensuring it was loaded before he got closer.

"Leonard?" he called, hoping his friend would answer. A clatter came from inside the inn and Ronan flinched. "Coming, coming!" a rough, scratchy voice came from inside. There were more clatters, before a lanky, messy 20-year old appeared at the door.

"Whoa, Leonard. Have you been drinking, since I last saw you?" Ronan asked, looking the soldier up and down. Leonard shook his head. "Surviving out here ain't easy, bro. How's Hyperion?" he asked.

"Not good. They've got a Vault Hunter locked up in Opportunity. Hell they've locked up all the Vault Hunters. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is we got to find Angel. Now," Ronan said as Leonard invited him into the inn.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me why we need Angel?" Leonard asked as he begun to pack his stuff for the journey ahead, Ronan shook his head. "Sadly, no. You'll find out soon enough," he said as he watched Leonard shove guns and ammo into a backpack.

Opportunity was a risky place, Loaders roamed freely and Hyperion Soldiers kept watch on the city. Navire could easily stroll in and out since she was technically still registered as a Hyperion Commander. But Axton, Mordecai and Zer0 would be an issue. When they had reached Opportunity, Navire told them to wait close to the Fast Travel first and be sure to be ready to teleport them out if necessary.

Then the feline warrior had walked on in with that usual air of confidence.

Mordecai crouched behind a barrel. He knew that so long he shot nothing from there, no one would notice them. Zer0 had offered to follow Navire using his Decepti0n mode so now there was a Hologram Zer0 sitting there as well, while the real Zer0 was walking with Navire.

Navire didn't head straight up to Lilith's holding room, instead she had visited other rooms first, going about her usual rounds to make her seem less suspicious. She had ordered Hyperion soldiers around and snapped at them like she usually did and threatened them. Zer0 was amazed at how her attitude changed so fast.

Navire then opened the door to Lilith's Holding room. "Lilith?" she said.

The Siren flipped herself around. "Navire!" she said excitedly. Navire walked up. "Zer0's here next to me, but he's in Decepti0n," she explained, and that made Lilith feel a lot more comfortable. "Hi Zer0," Lilith said to the invisible assassin.

"Zer0, get Lilith out of Opportunity while I find Ronan," Navire said, and the assassin materialised. Lilith waited patiently while Zer0 picked the lock and Navire left the room.

She walked down the hallway, her tail tip twitching as she looked for Ronan. "Where's Ronan?" she snarled, grabbing a Hyperion Soldier by his shirt collar. "I-i-i don't know ma'am," he squeaked. Navire huffed and headed to her office,, fishing out the keys from her pocket. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, closing the door behind her silently. Her table looked the same, nothing had changed.

She sat down on her chair and began unlocking all her drawers, checking each drawer. She was fine till she unlocked the drawer that held her pistol. She drew it open and gasped, seeing Ronan's pistol instead of her own. She took the gun out and placed it on her table, taking the note out as well.

_Navire, I have gone to find Angel. I have taken your pistol with me and the notes with the coordinates of Angel's location. Don't worry, Leonard is with me. We'll be fine. Just stay safe. And don't come looking for me, don't take that risk. Just find Salvador and Maya. And if I don't come back, my pistol is yours to keep._

_-Ronan._

"Shit," Navire hissed, flattening her ears. How stupid could Ronan have been to go look for Angel? True, he had Leonard and he was a capable warrior, but seriously?! Navire grabbed Ronan's pistol and kept it with her, folding the note up and tucking it in her pocket. She locked all her drawers again and hastily walked out of her office, back to Lilith's holding room. Zer0 had gotten Lilith to already and was making his way out of the HQ already.

Navire had to ECHO Axton. "Axton, get us out of Opportunity now. Go to the Dust."

**A/N. Well! One chapter in one night. Not bad… So this chapter features Ronan a lot! I figured it'd be nice to give the guy some recognition for his bravery. So I know this chapter doesn't have too much action, this chapter was more of suspense. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Please remember to rate, review and follow!**


	8. Chapter 8: Mordecai's guns

**A/N. Happy weekend! Looks like I'm off from school for the weekend, so that means…. *drumroll* Chapter 8! Oh yes, I may as well say this before anyone asks: I am not sure if there will be a sequel. I may make one if I feel there is a need. I may not. But this is definitely not my last Borderlands story. Just toss in a list of characters (that have appeared in this story) that you'd like to get to know better and I'll dish out another story for them! I know my awesome fan Guest (I'll just call you G, ya?) will probably see this and ask for a Navire or a Ronan story :) But we'll see.**

**G: Ronan is sort of a tall….. well, just Google a picture of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher. Looks like that. Dresses like that (when he's not in his Hyperion uniform). More brotherhood between Mordecai and Zer0? You got it! Ohh… I get what you mean *wink* Oh yes, Navire's flattered, and she says you're adorable!**

Ronan had left the Dust with Leonard, his bag full with ammo and health vials. He fished out the piece of paper with Angel's coordinates from his pocket and unfolded it, checking it quickly, before folding the paper back up and tucking it away safely back in his pocket.

Leonard was fiddling with the Catch-a-Ride, trying to get them a car while Ronan drank from his water bottle. Out in the Dust here temperatures were really high and people got dehydrated really easily. After he was done with gulping down the water, he righted the bottle and capped it back, before storing it away in his bag.

Leonard was still tapping away at the Catch-a-Ride, and Ronan thought he had problems working the machine. "Need help?" he asked, coming up to Leonard, who had a frown. Then Leonard smiled. "Nope," he said, clicking something and stepping back, watching as a Light Runner MG digistructed out onto the platform.

"I call dibs on Gunner seat," Leonard said instantly, climbing up the back of the Runner and settling himself comfortably on the seat, his hands on the turret. Ronan was fine with taking Driver's place, since he knew the coordinates after all.

He swung himself into the Runner and started up the engine. First he went slow, then he threw the car into full throttle.

Mordecai whipped around and ran to the Fast Travel. "Hurry up, Axton!" he urged as Axton keyed in their destination. "I'm typing, I'm typing!" Axton replied in frustration. He slammed on the Enter button, sending the Vault Hunters out of Opportunity.

Navire's feet touched firm ground again and she sighed in relief. "Thank god," she breathed, standing up straight. She dusted off her clothes.

"Uh… Navire?" Mordecai's voice broke the silence. "Yeah?" Navire asked, before she realised where they were. "Oh…. well shit," she growled, flattening her ears in annoyance. "Axton, you idiot!" she hissed, rounding on the war-torn Vault Hunter.

Axton was pretty shocked by Navire's sudden outburst. He started to say something, but Navire's claws were unsheathed, her fangs were bared and she was wielding both scimitars. "You fucking asshole, you realise how much trouble we're in? In fucking New Haven?!" she hissed. Lilith looked rather shocked, she didn't know Navire was so vulgar.

Suddenly, a grenade rolled onto the ground by the Fast Travel. "Get out of the way!" Mordecai called, jumping aside. Navire leapt away, her feline reflexes granting her extra jumping length. Axton turned and ran aside, hiding behind a metal crate. Zer0 was crouching behind a broken New-U machine with Lilith.

The grenade blew up right under the Fast-Travel, sending flames out. Navire curled up into a ball to protect herself from the burst of fire. When the heat had died down, she uncurled herself and stood up.

All that was left of the Fast Travel was charred metal, some still on fire and a burnt arch of ground. Navire growled and faced Axton. "Fuck you, Axton," she snarled, the muscles in her legs tensing. Mordecai had spent enough time around Navire to know that she was going to pounce on Axton with extreme speed and agility, he understood that her Catfight instincts were kicking in, and if Navire used her gun, it'd grant her deadly 100% accuracy that Mordecai couldn't even match or she'd use both scimitars on Axton.

Just as Navire was about to leap onto Axton and tear him to shreds, Mordecai lunged forward and grabbed Navire by the tail, before pulling her back close to him and doing what he did to calm her down.

He stroked her, running his hand down past her ears, making Navire trill with delight. "Oh yeah…. keep doing that," she purred, completely forgetting about Axton. Mordecai stroked her a bit more before releasing her. "Aw… why'd ya stop?" Navire asked, but she waved it off.

"So, crap. We're stuck here in New Haven without a Fast Travel or a New-U, so that kinda means if anyone of us dies… it's a long way back," she noted, sheathing back one scimitar and taking out her Shock pistol with her free hand.

"That's pretty much it," Zer0 said, he was standing next to Axton and holding an old Jakobs Rolling Thunder Sniper. Mordecai eyed the sniper with interest, and Zer0 followed Mordecai's gaze down to his sniper.

Navire rolled her eyes. "Let's just get going. May as well kill everything here before it kills us," she said, beginning to walk off. Zer0 shrugged and followed Navire, with Axton, Lilith and Mordecai trailing them, guns ready.

New Haven was… not so much of a Haven. It was more of a rundown city with plenty of bandits roaming around, and a lot of limbs that no one seemed to want to claim ownership to. Mordecai sighed. He remembered when this was his Sanctuary. His, Navire's, Roland's, Lilith's and Brick's Sanctuary. Now they had the floating city.

"Hey Mordecai," Navire called from the front of the group as they walked. Mordecai increased his pace to catch up to her. "Yeah?" he asked, holding an Terrible Shotgun in his hands. It was unlikely for Mordecai to use a shotgun, but he felt it was necessary for now. Across his back he slung a Dahl Reserve Lascaux SMG instead of his sniper, since he knew how much up-close combat there would be. Bloodwing sat upon his shoulder.

"You remember when this place was not a hell-filled hole? I'm quite certain Lilith remembers," Navire said, nodding to the Siren, who cast her a smile. Mordecai snorted. "It was a hellhole right from the start. Just… not so dangerous."

"You sure about using a shotgun?" Axton asked, his question clearly directed at Mordecai, who cast an annoyed look at him. "Do I look like I've never used a shotgun in my life?" he asked. Axton realised his mistake and shook his head. "No, no, I didn't mean it that way. It's just that you hardly use a shotgun," he said. Lilith rolled her eyes at Axton's fail comment.

Mordecai just looked all the more annoyed. "Don't doubt my skill," he said, walking ahead with Navire, who's tail swayed behind her from side to side in a hypnotising manner. Axton decided to shut up and just walk.

Navire's ears constantly swivelled around, using her feline senses to an advantage of being able to sense enemies before most others. "That's odd, there's no one around," she said, though her hand was on the trigger of her Shock pistol.

Zer0 drew his katana, watching as the blade digistructed from the handle. "It should not be so, maybe something happened here, we should go find out," he said. Navire seemed to be able to understand his haikus easily. "Zer0's right. Maybe something did happen. And instinct is telling me the same," she said, walking past some smoking metal.

"Guys, check this out," Lilith called to the others who had walked on ahead. The Siren was stooped next to the smoking metal, flipping over the warm metal with her fingers.

Navire backtracked to Lilith. She paused next to the pile of metal, crouching down. "Still smoking, obviously something happened recently around here," Axton commented, before he walked past the group and further out. Everything was still quiet, though he noticed something shining on the ground.

He walked towards it and bent down to inspect the shining item. An incendiary pistol. And some blood next to it. Clearly some shooting had occurred around here.

"Found something?" Mordecai's voice broke into his thoughts. Axton turned his head and saw the group approaching him. "Yeah, it's an incendiary pistol and blood," he said, standing up to let his comrades take a closer look.

Zer0 picked the pistol up and turned it around in his hands. "This incendiary pistol was not made from any corporation I know of," he said, passing it to Mordecai, who took a look at it closely, trying to identify any brand-name. "There's no brand on it," he said, "though it looks like a Maliwan Hellfire," he said.

Navire fronde. A Maliwan Hellfire? One of the rarest weapons around? Who would have been able to get their hands on such a rare weapon? She took the gun from Moredecai. "It certainly looks like a Maliwan Hellfire, but," she said, aiming the pistol and firing. The blast came out as a swirl of green, blue, purple and red. "It doe not fire like a Maliwan Hellfire," she said, walking closer to the rock she had shot at.

The rock had slag and acid on it, it was on fire and small electrical bolts buzzed along its coated surface. "Holy shit, this gun fires all elemental bullets. I don't even know how that's possible," Navire said, admiring the powerful gun in her hands. "Anyone knows which corporation makes elemental weapons apart from Maliwan?" she prompted.

Mordecai shrugged. "I don't read up on my guns," he said. Axton shook his head, Zer0 didn't say anything. "Well, I suppose we can hold on to the gun until we find out more about it, and I guess we could use it on larger enemies. The clip's almost empty and this gun takes more ammo than anything else. Lilith, wanna keep it? Because I can't trust the guys with the gun and my hands are full," Navire said, handing the intriguing weapon to Lilith, who took it silently and examined it.

Roland leaned back in his cell. 5 days left. 5 days gone by and he had made no progress in escaping whatsoever. What happened to the Soldier with a plan? He sighed and stared blankly out of the bars of the cell. He wondered how the others were doing. Were they free? About to die? Dead?

He shook his head. "Stay positive, Roland," he told himself. He remembered when Navire had visited him. She'd get him out. Eventually. She hadn't even contacted him or visited him once after that first time. Maybe she was just busy. She was always busy.

Roland had spent most of his time sleeping or trying to saw through the bars of the cage, or cursing. Mostly cursing at himself for letting his guard down and curing at the guard for no reason. He stretched his legs out and crossed his arms.

Well, at least no one here attempted to shoot at him. 5 days without being shot at. "New record," he said, trying to lighten the mood. The guard didn't even say anything, and he just sighed.

He thought back to when he first stepped onto Pandora. It wasn't the best entrance. A lousy bus ride with 3 random other people who he now called his closest friends and a crazy bus driver who spent most of the ride trying to roll skags over, then he met Claptrap. The little robot was annoying, but he heard from the newer Vault Hunters that Claptrap had stayed with them all the way to Sanctuary that Roland was glad Claptrap had just led him to Fyrestone then left him alone. From there, he had slowly gotten better at his gun skills, he killed Marley and Moe, he'd slain Scar, he killed Sledge, he had slain so many things and revealed the first Vault. Then the second Vault came about. So did the new Vault Hunters.

Roland sighed and closed his eyes, hoping to sleep off the rest of the day.

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Leonard called from the Gunner seat. Ronan sighed. "Yes, I'm sure. It's close by," he said. Leonard rolled his eyes. "You told me that 3 hours ago," he sighed, swivelling the Gunner seat around to shoot at a Spiderling. Ronan shook his head. "We'll be there in 1 hour, I promise," he said, as the Runner turned around the corner. Leonard said nothing.

Ronan and Leonard kept silent for the rest of the journey, which took about 40 minutes, before Ronan finally stopped by a fairly big shack, which looked a bit like a barn. "You sure this is it?" Leonard asked, not coming down from the turret. Ronan checked the coordinates. "I'm sure," he said, walking towards the shack.

Leonard then got off the turret, slinging his assault rifle down to his hip and holding it. Ronan kept Navire's pistol in hand. He trusted Navire, and he trusted her powerful gun. He walked across the graveyard, before he tripped on a slightly larger grave.

Once he had regained his balance, Ronan turned to face the grave. He noticed it was unmarked, unlike all the others. From one corner of the grave, a green corner of a box peeked out. Ronan was curious. He began to dig, scraping away dirt from the box. Leonard came to help hi as well, shifting dust and dirt aside.

Under the thin layer of dirt was a large crate, not a usual weapons crate or an ammo crate. Ronan was about to open the box when someone shouted from behind. "Hey! You!" Ronan turned around to see someone he knew. "Mobley," he growled.

Mobley paused when he realised it was Ronan. "Oh… it's you. I thought you were Carson, or Mordecai," Mobley said dismissively. Leonard frowned. "You know this guy?" he asked Ronan, who nodded. "Used to work together," he said, before directing his attention to Mobley. "What do you want?"

Mobley eyed the crate. "I want the crate," he said. Ronan raised an eyebrow. "What's in the crate?" he asked. Mobley's lips twisted into a smug grin. "I'll cut you a deal. You manage to kill me, you get the crate. I manage to kill either you or your friend, the crate is mine," Mobley said. Ronan nodded. "Deal," he said, stepping back.

Mobley drew a revolver, and Ronan drew Navire's pistol. He could see mockery in Mobley's eyes and returned the glare with determination. From behind, Gettle was trying to get to the crate, but Leonard was pushing him back with gunshots. But the noise from Leonard's and Gettle's fight didn't distract Ronan or Mobley.

Then Ronan took the first shot. Navire's pistol had insane accuracy of 98.6, allowing Ronan to get a clear shot. He had never trained in Snipers yet the shot was so accurate, he wondered how deadly accurate a sniper like Mordecai or Navire or Zer0 could be with a gun of such high accuracy and low recoil.

The bullet slammed into Mobley's chest and he returned fire, pulling three shots on Ronan, of which one grazed him and the others missed. Ronan rolled onto his feet and unloaded Navire's pistol on Mobley, before he charged the rogue, slamming his fist into Mobley's face.

Leonard threw Gettle back with his assault rifle, firing freely at the Hyperion Soldier. "You're not fuckin' getting' that crate," Leonard growled, unloading his gun into Gettle's shield. Gettle just snarled in return and punched Leonard in the face, sending the lone warrior sprawling, his shield depleted.

"Holy shit," Leonard gasped as Gettle charged him, locking Leonard in lace. Gettle punched Leonard again and again while Leonard fumbled with his gun, before swinging the butt of his gun into Gettle's chin then firing into his face. Gettle roared in pain and let go of Leonard, who sprang to his feet and regained his senses.

Mobley stumbled back but got a shot in Ronan's forearm. Ronan hissed and scowled at Mobley, before he swapped to his shotgun and went up close to Mobley and fired the shotgun right through his chest. Mobley gasped as he collapsed and sank to the ground, a puddle of crimson blood pooling around him.

Gettle had knocked Leonard down again and his hand was clamped over Leonard's throat, his other hand punching Leonard over and over again. Leonard struggled and gasped for breath. Gettle had flung his gun aside so Leonard was completely unarmed. The lone warrior gasped for breath, clawing at Gettle. Every second he got weaker.

Ronan turned around, still armed with his shotgun and saw Gettle strangling Leonard. Ronan growled and ran over to Gettle, firing the shotgun at Gettle. The bullets pierced his shield, but it didn't harm Gettle, who glared at Ronan but just forced his hand down harder on Leonard's throat.

Ronan went up close and personal, pressing the shotgun against Gettle's head and pulling the trigger. Gettle's head exploded in a mess of blood and bits of brain, and his body fell off the cliffside. Ronan panted, slightly weak from his fight with Mobley, but he dropped the shotgun and crouched next to Leonard who was catching his breath.

"You okay?" Ronan asked. Leonard nodded, but didn't say anything. His just took in deep breaths and closed his eyes, trying to orientate himself with the surroundings. Ronan stood up and waited for Leonard to regain his senses, before e offered his hand to his friend, who gladly took it and pulled himself up.

Ronan and Leonard walked back to the crate. "The honour's all yours," Leonard said, allowing Ronan to open the crate. Ronan nodded and preyed the crate open, revealing a stash full of guns, mainly snipers, some shotguns, some elemental, some assault rifles. Leonard nodded. "I know who these belong to," he said.

Ronan looked up from the amazing, eye-dazzling stash of guns. "Who?" he asked. "Mordecai."


	9. Chapter 9: Hell of Eridium

**A/N. So… last chapter I didn't exactly add enough of Lilith, since I forgot that she was free. So I'll have more Lilith this chapter, I promise. And more Salvador, though there isn't much to say about him since he's just trapped.**

**G: Navire's always been somewhat hot tempered so she flare up easily (as we've seen in chapter 8… *glares at Navire*). Leonard is lanky and tall, generally long limbs, his hair is messy and ruffled. And of course I'll throw in the backstory on how Navire first met with the Vault Hunters! BADASSSSSSS… I love that idea! Not so much of the Zer0 removing his helmet though, since I never really thought about his face *giggles* I'm thinking of delving deeper into Navire's skill trees and her action skill, which is Catfight. Maybe I'll make another story, based off Navire's dairy. Yes, she keeps one. Ronan says you're on, he's gonna own you at poker. Leonard will be there too. And Navire's awfully flattered :)**

**BrutusSilentum: Thank you! :) I didn't get very good guns either, the best was a shock sniper but I didn't take anything else apart from that. Though the shock sniper still couldn't beat the Liquid Sloth sniper I got from Mordecai when I went to get him the booze (I turned down Moxxi's Rubi…)**

Navire shifted her gun over to her tail, which hooked around the handle and held it while she drew both scimitars, casting out her feline senses. There really wasn't anyone around. "Has there been any recent news of an invasion here or something?" she asked, keeping her ears pricked.

Morecai shrugged. "I'm not sure, though I don't think so if not Hyperion would be making a big hoo-haa about it," he said, carrying on. The sky was beginning to darken above them and the group knew they'd have to stop for the night soon.

"Maybe they'll come out at night?" Lilith suggested, still wielding the unnamed weapon in her hands, finger on the trigger. Zer0 seemed to agree with Lilith's theory. "Maybe," he said.

Navire had found a cabin in New Haven, large enough for them to squeeze into. She slipped into the cabin and found the highest point in the cabin where she could fit. She curled her tailed around her and sat herself cosily, though she kept an assault rifle at hand.

Axton and Zer0 sat on the floor, Mordecai on the table and Lilith stayed standing, leaning against the wall. Zer0 then stood up. "I'll take first watch," he offered. Navire nodded. "That's fine, though I don't think I'll be sleeping so soon," she said.

Axton then piped up. "Hey Navire, why not tell us how you came to meet the first Vault Hunters?" he asked. Navire glanced at Mordecai and Lilith. They knew the story, but they were obviously curious to know her life before that.

"Okay, I'll tell you guys about my entire life. I was born on Pandora in the wild, as a primal species. I was not humanoid, I didn't understand all of this, I just had the instinct to survive. I grew up under my mother's care and I never got to meet my father. My mother was also primal. She taught me how to hunt things like skags, stalkers, rakks, and bullymongs. I grew up just fine. But what I didn't know was that Hyperion was slowly picking off my species, hunting them down, killing them. We were deemed dangerous.

I didn't know why we were called dangerous. I mean, we ate, we slept, we killed only for food, we stayed away from humans mostly and only attacked if we were desperate. Some of us got captured for experiments, most of us were killed for sport or for "safety reasons".

One night when I was sleeping in my den, I heard a gunshot. My mother intently woke up and told me to hide. So I did. I hid away in the darkest crevice in a rock I could fit into, and my mother stood outside, growling at some Hyperion Soldiers who were trying to get me. They only wanted young cheetahs for experiments, so they wanted me, but my mother stood outside, snapping at them.

Then one of them, his name was Alan, shot my mom. It was so horrifying, seeing him take out the shotgun and just blow the hell out of my mom. Her blood sprayed everywhere, and some splattered onto the ground before me. I saw her fall, but I knew I couldn't go out or I'd be captured. Instead, I hid deeper in the rock while the Hyperion soldiers tried to grab at me. But the hole was too small for their hands so eventually they gave up and left.

I stayed in the rock for a few more days, living on a small puddle of water and the occasional beetle. Eventually I ventured out of the rock. Around the area was just bloodstains. And the decaying body of my mom. I wanted to stay with her body, but I knew I couldn't. So I left.

I wandered off into Pandora, I was picked up by some people, though I escaped every time. Though there was a lonely guy I met out in Marrowfield. He was being attacked by some bandits so I charged them and killed them. The thrill of the kill was so good. The guy was Corporal Reiss. I stayed with him, feeling safe when I was with him.

He didn't know what to do with me, but he knew I was starving so he shared his food with me, he took care of me. Then he took me to Sanctuary. To Dr. Zed. Who changed me into who I am now. He didn't know I was the last of my kind so I won't blame him. In fact, I'm quite glad he did this. But Reiss was so shocked to see that I had become humanoid. I could speak, I could walk like a human. So he gave me my first sniper and trained me to fight. I learned the ways of the sword on my own, though.

After I grew up, I left Sanctuary. Reiss was a bit sad to see me go, since I grew up around him and he was like a father to me. When I was younger, I had addressed Reiss as my dad. When I left, I wandered alone. Hardly talked to anyone. Killed anything in sight. I stayed out in the Dust, in a shack that now belongs to Leonard.

I traveled across Pandora, without any real purpose. I just walked, explored. I had nothing else to do. But my skills got sharper, my abilities got better. But no matter where I went, I always went back to the shack in the Dust.

Then I met Mordecai. He was driving down the sand in a Runner, chasing one of those Moonshiners with all the alcohol. I was curious, so I took my own Runner and followed him. Then I started to shoot at the Moonshiner. Mordecai didn't seem to care and he just kept attacking the Moonshiner. After awhile of chasing the vehicle and getting a lot of booze, he stopped the Runner. So I did.

We got out, but we didn't say anything. Though he said I wasn't too bad in a Runner and of course, I returned the praise. He asked me what I was doing out here and I just told him this was my home. So he offered to take me to his home in the Highlands.

The Highlands was where he asked me if I had any real purpose for being on Pandora. I explained to him that I was born on Pandora, but at that period of time, I didn't trust him enough to tell him my backstory.

Then he asked me if I was up for an adventure. I got interested, I asked him what it was about. He told me about the Vault, Hyperion and the Vault Hunters. I thought it was a pretty good chance to avenge my mom's death, so I agreed and he took me to see Roland, Brick and Lilith back in Sanctuary.

I hoped that back in Sanctuary, which had changed a lot, I'd see Reiss again, but he wasn't there. Roland accepted me as a Vault Hunter and we trained together. At first, they were a bit wary of me, except Mordecai. But we got to know each other better.

One time Roland sent me to invade Hyperion and get some intel on what they were planning on doing with the Vault. While I was there, I ran into Alan, who I recognised. He didn't remember me, but I killed him anyway. With my own shotgun. My mother's death had been avenged.

After the opening of the Vault, I left the Vault Hunters. I felt that the adventure was over so I went back to being a lone feline. I went back to my shack, only to fine it was occupied by Leonard. But we became friends easily.

But when I heard about the new Vault, that was different. I went back to Sanctuary, hoping that Roland an the others were up for another Vault, but I found that their place had been taken by Axton's team. But I joined them anyway.

So I've pretty much been a Vault Hunter for the most part of my life. And if there ever is a third Vault, I'll be more than happy to go back again," Navire finished.

Her audience's eyes were wide. "Is my history really that interesting?" Navire asked, giggling. She jumped off the platform she was sitting on and landed on the floor, sliding onto the floor next to Mordecai and putting her hands around him. She pecked him on the cheek and Mordecai smiled, returning the kiss.

Axton smiled. "Your history is way more interesting than mine," he said. Navire pricked her ears. "Is that so?" she asked, still leaning against Mordecai lovingly. Zer0 seemed pretty interested in Navire's past. But he wanted to know more about her sword fighting skills. Her mastery in blades. And her odd choice of weapons. But he'd ask later.

Maya's eyes felt extremely tired after all her crying. She felt so depressed. So lonely, so cold, so helpless. She whimpered and tucked her knees close to her chest, burying her head close to her chest.

The guard outside glanced at her once in awhile, but he never bothered to talk to her or ask her if she was okay.

Maya thought about the others. Were they free? Dead? Was Axton dead? Maya felt so hopeless at the thought. What if they were dead? She'd have nothing to fight for. No one would come to her rescue. She coughed once and closed her eyes, hoping to sleep off her sorrows.

Navire had fallen asleep on the floor, her head resting in Mordecai's lap. Mordecai himself was asleep too, leaning against the wall with his hand around Navire. Zer0 was still on his watch, he sat by the door and stared out into New Haven, quiet and empty. Axton was in a corner of the small cabin, catching some shut eye.

Zer0 occasionally glanced back at his friends, before looking out again. In his hands rested a shotgun, loaded and ready for action. Zer0 himself was also slightly tense, ready to spring into action in a split second. He never let his guard down.

Bloodwing sat on the window ledge next to Zer0 quietly, and Zer0 was quite grateful for Bloodwing's company. The bird didn't say anything, just looked out of the cabin with Zer0. Bloodwing picked at her feathers, but always returned to staring out of the cabin.

Lilith rolled over on the floor onto her side, causing Zer0 to glance back at her. When he saw nothing happened, he turned his head back out. He looked up at the sky and sighed, hen he heard a sort of low rumble in the distance.

Instantly, he swung his shotgun into a firing position, waiting for something to pop up and attack. The rumbling just died down again. Zer0 didn't lower his weapon though. Instead, he stood up and walked out. Bloodwing flew off her perch and landed on his shoulder.

Zer0 looked at Bloodwing and kept walking, towards the rumbling which had started again. He ventured further into New Haven, keeping his senses alert. The rumbling got louder with each step he took, and soon, Zer0 saw something he wished he never did.

A huge Eridium beast, on that looked similar to the one found in the Wildlife preserve, glared zt Zer0 with evil eyes. It licked its lips hungrily and Zer0 backed off, hoping he could escape without provoking the beast.

Nope.

The Eridium monster flung itself at Zer0 in an instant, and the assassin turned and ran. The Eridium monster made very little sound except for the constant rumbling. Clearly it wanted to kill Zer0 without alerting the others.

Zer0 turned around and fired his shotgun on the Eridium beast's face, causing it to reel back, but shake off the bullet like nothing happened. Zer0 hissed at the beast lunged at him again, swiping Zer0 off his feet and onto the floor.

Zer0 rolled around and attempted a few shots, before he disappeared into Decepti0n, scrambling onto his feet. He thought the beast couldn't see him. But apparently, it could. The Eridium beast kept its eyes constantly locked on Zer0, who ran up and tried to slash at the beast, who just shot a blast of raw Eridium at Zer0.

The blast knocked him back and he landed on the floor, feeling weak from the raw Eridium leaking into his suit. He got to his feet and attempted to attack the beast again, but it swiped a paw at him and threw Zer0 across the ground. He crashed into a wall and collapsed onto the floor.

Bloodwing dive bombed down onto the beast, causing a momentary distraction. But the beast whacked Bloodwing aside. Zer0 panted as he tried to get up again, but just got blasted with another shot of raw Eridium.

Bloodwing hopped up to Zer0 who was too weak to get up. He was bleeding and he felt tired. "Get… the others…" he panted. Bloodwing instantly flew off back to the cabin. Zer0 tried to push himself to his feet but the Eridium beast just swiped at him again and shot him with Eridium. Zer0 collapsed to the ground again, his vision starting to get fuzzy.


	10. Chapter 10: Aimless

**A/N. Well! This story seems to be getting somewhere… :)**

**G: Since there are E-tech guns, I am considering calling the Eridium monster E-beast or something like that… we'll see how things go. And thanks so much, glad you like Navire's backstory. I've actually been thinking about it for awhile so it was easy to write out. Also, I am in fact, a girl.**

**BrutusSilentium: Thank you! I have this obsession with swords too so I thought it'd be fun to put that into Navire. No, of course it's not stealing! Go ahead and make your own OC from the E-beast :)**

Axton leapt up in alarm as Bloodwing started squawking in the cabin. "What?" he said, startled. Navire got to her feet, slightly less shocked. She rubbed her eyes with a furry forearm and yawned while Mordecai pulled out his revolver. Lilith looked worried as she tried to calm Bloodwing down.

"Chill… chill girl," she said, attempting to calm the still-squawking bird. Mordecai understood that she was trying to convey a message. One of importance. "Guys, I think something's up. She's trying to tell us something," Mordecai said as Bloodwing landed on his arm and flapped her wings.

"What is it?" he asked. Bloodwing screeched and flew to the cabin window, cocking her head towards New Haven. "She wants us to follow," the Hunter said, slinging his sniper across his back and holding the revolver tight in his palm.

Navire nodded and wielded an assault rifle, the Dahl Reserve Lascaux she trusted to much. In her holster she had Ronan's pistol, just in case. Axton held a shotgun, loaded and ready. As soon as he stepped out of the cabin, he realised something.

"Where's Zer0?"

Ronan had taken as many guns as he could, with Leonard taking the remaining. He'd return them to Mordecai, since he knew it wasn't right to keep them for himself, but he didn't want to leave them out for someone else and the crate he been busted so bad the guns couldn't be stored back.

Hauling the guns he carried, he headed towards the Runner, where Leonard was already seated in the gunner seat with some of Mordecai's lost guns with him. Ronan placed the guns in whatever space he could find up front, without obstructing anything in the Runner of important. Then he swung himself into the seat.

He looked back at Leonard. "You ready to go?" he asked. Leonard said nothing, but gave him a thumbs up sign. Ronan face back front and pressed down on the accelerator, sending the car forward.

Then Leonard paused in his seat. "Wait, didn't you say Angel was back there?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat. Ronan nodded. "But we need to return the guns first. It's no use hauling it with us either since it's just going to be dead weight. And we could use some assistance," Ronan said.

Leonard frowned. He didn't like the idea of being held back just to return some guns Mordecai probably didn't want, but he admitted silently that some help would be good, though Navire would probably have Ronan's head for going off like that. He just shrugged and said nothing.

Ronan and Leonard kept quiet throughout the journey, neither of them saying a word. At the most, Leonard coughed once or twice, but other than that, there was no noise at all as the Runner travelled down the sandy road.

Navire pricked her ears. "What do you mean, where's Zer0?" she asked, flattening her ears again with worry. Axton snorted. "I mean, he's not here!" he snapped back. Bloodwing seemed eager to go deeper into New Haven, even at 2am in the morning.

"Forget Zer0 for now, Bloodwing seems really urgent," Mordecai called back to them as he followed his pet deeper into New Haven. Bloodwing flew at lower-than-usual levels, though she occasionally flew high up to regain sense of her surroundings.

The rumbling in the ground started up again, though it was ignored by the Vault Hunters. Lilith's feet thrummed the ground as she ran, beginning to worry about Zer0.

Bloodwing seemed to be getting more and more excited as they went deeper and deeper into New Haven. She flew faster, not looking back to see if the Vault Hunters were catching up. "Bloodwing, slow down!" Mordecai called to his bird, but she didn't even look back.

Navire slung her assault rifle over her back and dropped onto fours, feeling her structure morph into that of her primal form. She sprinted at incredible speeds that couldn't be matched by just about anything and caught up with Mordecai, getting back onto twos as she rounded the corner.

She drew both scimitars again as she looked around for Mordecai as Axton and Lilith caught up. Mordecai was seen backing off from something hidden behind a tall fence. Bloodwing was nowhere in sight.

"Shit," Mordecai breathed, taking slow steps back as the E-beast glared at him. Lilith took a step forward, but Mordecai warned her not to come closer with a flick of his hand. Suddenly, a roar emitted from the E-beast and it shot a stream of Eridium at Mordecai, who flung himself out of the way in the nick of time.

"Crap!" he hissed, stumbling to his feet and sprinting off, turning once to fire his revolver. The E-beast shook the bullet off like an ant. Navire' eyes widened at the sight of the humongous E-beast and she instantly unloaded her assault rifle on the E-beast while running backwards.

Axton deployed his Sabre Turret, letting the turret do its job while the Vault Hunters fired away at the E-beast, who seemed unaffected by plain bullets, though it was stalled by the Sabre Turret's rockets. It roared and jumped, the impact of it landing heavily on the ground smashing the Sabre Turret.

"Oh, you don't mess with my girlfriend," Axton snarled as he unloaded another full clip of shotgun ammo into the E-beast's face. The E-beast snapped as a bullet hit it in the eye, but it blinked a few times before growling and jumping at Axton.

Zer0 was still in the middle of the ground, bleeding and unconscious. Bloodwing hopped nervously around him, occasionally nudging him with her beak to see if he would wake up. He just flopped back, limp.

Axton threw himself to the side and rolled, before getting on his knees and firing another clip at the E-beast, which was about to swat at Axton again before a rocket came flying at its head.

Navire laughed maniacally as the rocket blew up in its head. Thinking she had brought the E-beast down, she lowered her launcher, smiling with glee. But once the smoke cleared, the first thing she met with was a ball of Eridium which hit her in the face, rolling her over. She yelped as the Eridium hit her and rolled on to her feet, panting. "God, I hate Eridium," she hissed, drawing both scimitars.

Mordecai had taken the time to whip out his sniper and take six well aimed shots at the E-beast, hitting it in the eye repeatedly. He was glad for the use of the rocket launcher, it gave him ample time to take a few more shots, before the E-beast regained its senses and turned to Mordecai, who kept his sniper away and took out his revolver again.

Lilith had used an ordinary gun for the last 10 minutes, and she was growing desperate. She had phasewalked the E-beast, causing it some damage and confusion, but it was not enough to get the beast off her friends' backs. Her hand reached back for the quad-elemental gun in her holster.

The feeling of the gun felt comforting, the knowledge of the overpowered gun still there. She whipped it out and took an aim right for the E-beast's head, before pulling the trigger down.

Lilith had expected a loud bang to resonate from the barrel of the gun and to see the E-beast roar in pain or something, but nothing. No sound, no explosion, no roar. The E-beast was still advancing on the others. All there was was a click.

No ammo?!

Lilith gasped when she realised she had no ammo. "Bitch, I got no ammo," she hissed, running off to find SMG ammo. Axton was crouched in a corner, willing his Sabre Turret to recharge. He poked his head out of the corner and took a few shots at the E-beast, though it wasn't enough to distract it from Mordecai.

Lilith ducked under cover next to Axton. "Axton," she panted, "got any SMG ammo? I ran out," she said, holding the useless gun in her hand. Axton glanced at her and took a quick moment to search in his bag, taking out precious SMG ammo.

"It's all I got," Axton said, before swinging himself into view again and taking another shot from his shotgun. Lilith nodded and reloaded the gun, before running out of cover. She took her aim at the E-beast and pulled the trigger back.

The gun cocked in her hand and a single bullet fired from the barrel. That single bullet hit the E-beast and exploded in a fusion of purple and green, with little bits of blue electricity spreading around the area and fire lighting up against the skin of the E-beast.

It roared anger and turned from Mordecai, who was on the ground, on his back, gun pointed at the E-beast. As it turned to see who fired the powerful bullet, he took the chance to put a few bullets in its throat. The E-beast ignored Lilith once again and raised its massive paw, swinging it down and sending Mordecai skidding across the floor.

Lilith growled. "You do no play around with my friends." She pulled the trigger and fired another 12 or so rounds, all the bullets taking a hit on the E-beast which roared in pain. Navire took opportunity of the E-beast's temporary distraction and charged at it, stabbing her scimitars into the beast's slagged foot.

Knowing it couldn't hold up much longer, the E-beast plundered away into hiding, quickly losing the Vault Hunters behind it. "Well crap," Navire hissed, "Now it's gonna go into hiding and heal," she snapped.

Axton panted as he came out of hiding. He looked at the group. All of them were tired, battered and bruised, but not defeated. All of them had a fire of victory and determination in their eyes, Axton could see it.

Mordecai then ran back to the group. "Guys, Zer0's unconscious," he said, sweat dripping from his head. Navire's ears pricked. "Where is he?" she asked.

Mordecai said nothing, but turned and headed off in the opposite direction to where he had found Zer0 lying.

Navire ran up to Zer0 and crouched down. "What…. there's raw Eridium in his suit," she breathed, slipping her hands under him and lifting him up. He was pretty light, surprisingly. Navire turned to Axton and Lilith. "Where's the nearest Fast Travel or Catch-a-Ride?" she asked.

Lilith opened her ECHO map. "About 6km from here," she said, closing the map up. Navire sighed. "May as well get going," she said. Axton helped Navire with carrying Zer0 while Mordecai and Lilith followed behind, guns ready.

"How do you even know where the others are?" Leonard asked. Ronan had taken them to the Dahl Headlands already and they were driving. Just driving. Ronan probably had no idea where he was going.

"I don't," Ronan snapped back grabbing the shock sniper from falling off the side of the Runner. They had been driving for a few hours now. "Why not head back to Sanctuary? Or their last known whereabouts?" Leonard suggested.

Ronan didn't know about heir last known whereabouts. Opportunity, probably. But no one there would be of help. He sighed. "May as well go to Marrowfield and talk to Reiss," he sighed, driving them up to a Fast Travel station.

He hopped out of the car and clicked on the Fast Travel, taking them to Tundra Express.

The car hadn't come with them to Tundra Express, so they had to get a new one. The guns had, though. But Leonard had objected the idea of a car. "Marrowfield is really small, there isn't much place accessible by car," he said. Ronan agreed silently and they walked off, hauling the guns with them.

Most of the Bullymongs saw the number of guns they had and stayed away. Even bandits didn't try to fire at them. Marrowfield was cold and icy, with snow covering just about anything. "Do you even know where Reiss is?" Leonard asked.

Ronan shrugged. "I'm never sure of anything."


	11. Chapter 11: Reiss

**A/N. People! If you've loved Navire so very much and want to go even deeper into her backstory, please do check out my new fanfic, Hit and Run! It focuses completely on Navire and her brother :)**

**BrutusSlentium: He'll be fine…. I hope. I'm sure he'll pull through, he's a capable warrior. And definitely. Many guns = Protection :)**

**G: OMG why are your ideas so good?! -hugs- I wish I could come up with more interesting ideas like yours :) Navire says you're hot :) And she thanks you for the catnip. And Ronan and Leonard are swearing to me they never cheated. :D And happy birthday to you and your twin! Oh yes, Navire's action skill Catfight allows her to wield both scimitars (dealing 200% melee damage) and gives her extra speed and jumping abilities, in case you'd like to know. And yes, you can call me FS or Cat :)**

Navire looked up at the lightening sky. Once the sun had risen, it would mean they they only had four days left, and that wasn't good. Zer0 probably wouldn't be able to do much for awhile, this put them back a day or two. And they had to find Ronan and Leonard, and none of them had a lead on where Salvador, Roland or Maya could be.

She sighed and leaned back against the sheet of cold metal in another cabin further up in New Haven. First chance, they were getting out to the Dahl Headlands and using the Fast Travel there. Axton had convinced Navire that moving on early in the morning wasn't good since all of them were tired and sore after the battle, so they had settled in another cabin.

Lilith was keeping watch by the doorway, keeping the elemental gun in her lap. Occasionally she would turn her head and look back at her friends. The sky outside was beginning to turn pink with dawn and the stars begun to fade away. The moon was setting over the West horizon and the sky on the East was getting pinker and pinker as the sun slowly made its way up.

Zer0 was on the floor on his back, still out since the night. Mordecai had stayed up to watch over his friend, but eventually, he himself had fallen asleep in a corner of the small cabin. The Hunter's revolver was on the floor by his hand, in which his palm was faced upwards.

Axton was sleeping next to Navire, leaning against the wall. His deep breaths comforted Navire, who looked at her friends, her gaze darting from one to another. She wasn't too concerned about Lilith, Axton and Mordecai, but she was deeply worried by Zer0's condition.

Silently, she pushed herself to her feet and crept to her bag, which was with Mordecai. She gently lifted his hand off the bag and took out a few Health vials from the bag, before tucking the bag where it last was and heading back to the other side of the room.

Navire crouched down by Zer0 and reached a hand out to the base of his helmet. She knew she really should take it off without asking him, but she knew it was necessary. He'd understand. He, hopefully, wouldn't even know she took it off.

The feline warrior placed the health vials down by her knee and put her hands on his helmet, unlocking it and slipping it off. Her gaze flickered to his face. The skin was pale from not having been exposed to sunlight at all, but other than that, he looked perfectly human. His hair was brushed to the side messily, yet it looked nice. His eyes were closed, so Navire gently an eyelid to see his eye. The pupil was black, but around it was a sort of silver-grey colour. Navire half hoped that Zer0 would respond, but at the same time she hoped he wouldn't so he wouldn't realise she had seen his face.

Navire quickly jabbed the health vial in the base of his neck, before she slipped his helmet back on again and locked it before Axton or Mordcai woke up. She knew Lilith probably saw her, but she hoped Lilith wouldn't tell Zer0.

The sun had come up, just slightly. It was peeking over the horizon, still slowly making its ascent into the sky.

From the corner of the cabin, Mordecai stirred. Navire's ears twitched and swivelled over to him, though she hadn't looked at him. Mordecai grunted as his hand slowly shifted by him and propped up against the wall. He opened his eyes and looked up around the room.

Navire got up and walked over to him, settling down by him. Mordecai smiled and put an arm around her and she draped her around over his chest and held his other shoulder. "Hi Mordy," she purred, pushing her head against his chin. Mordecai tickled her. "Hi baby," he cooed. Navire lifted her head and kissed him on the cheek ad he returned the kiss.

"Feeling better?" Navire asked, motioning to the particularly nasty cut on his arm. Mordecai just glanced down at the cut. "I suppose," he said, shrugging. Navire giggled and stood up, offering her hand to him. Mordecai took her hand and lifted himself off the ground, dusting off his shirt.

"How long to you think we gotta stay?" Mordecai asked as Navire crossed the small cabin again. She shrugged. "We can leave today once Axton is up, we just need to figure out how to get to the Dahl Headlands and we can use the Fast Travel there to go back to Sanctuary or something," she said, nudging Axton with her foot.

Axton roused from his sleep with a grunt, and the commando yawned. "We're leaving?" he asked as he got up, one hand rubbing his eyes. Navire nodded. "Pack your stuff, we're running short on time so we need to get out of here A.S.A.P," she said, grabbing her scimitars which had blood stains on it and tucking them into their sheaths across her back.

Lilith came into the cabin from her watch. She still wasn't holding much, since most of her stuff had been confiscated by Hyperion when she was still trapped. "So, what's the plan?" she asked. Navire thought about it.

"We're going to head to the Dahl Headlands, from there we'll take the Fast Travel to Sanctuary or somewhere where we can get Zer0 some help. If not, we'll just…. go to The Dust I suppose. Ellie could help," Navire said, hauling her bag over her shoulder.

"I think we should go straight to the Dust," Axton chipped in. Lilith nodded. "We can leave Zer0 with Ellie first, while we find Ronan and Leonard," she agreed. Mordecai said nothing.

"Okay then, we'll go to the Dust as soon as we can," Navire finalised, and off they went, with Zer0 over Axton's shoulder.

Ronan and Leonard had hiked all the way up to Marrowfield, lugging the load of guns with them, Leonard wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his palm. "How much longer?" he panted. Ronan sighed. "I'll be honest, I have no idea. I don't even know if Reiss is here or somewhere else," Ronan admitted.

Leonard said nothing, but he followed Ronan down the icy slope. The guns were an empty weight on his back slowing down his steps. The freezing weather in Marrowfield were no help to him or Ronan either.

"Reiss?" Ronan called into the icy terrain. "Corporal Reiss? You here?" The wind whipped by, but no reply came. Ronan sighed. He trudged on, going further into Marrowfield. "Reiss!" Ronan raised his voice, but no reply came except for the howl of the wind.

Leonard had kept quiet, but he paused behind Ronan while his friend desperately called into the winds. Then he sighed, his shoulders sagging against the weight of the guns. "Can we just go to Sanctuary and find him? He's obviously not here," he said, shifting the weight of the guns.

Ronan looked down on the ground. I guess you're right, we'll head to Sanctuary," he said, turning around and making his way down the ice-covered rocky outcrop.

The walk was long and tiring, and the Vault Hunters took turns in carrying Zer0 along. The assassin had stopped bleeding, but he was still out. Navire flicked her ears. The Dahl Headlands weren't too far away, as according to her ECHO map. And ECHOs didn't lie, as far as Navire knew.

Lilith was walking behind, the overpowering gun full with ammunition and loaded. They had stocked up on ammunition when they passed one of Marcus's Ammo Dumps and were pretty confident of taking down pretty much anything.

Except the E-beast.

It hadn't shown up again, but just to be safe, Lilith kept the gun armed. She would turn to look behind her every few 10 or so metres.

Mordecai hadn't said a word in the past 2 hours they'd been walking. Instead, he just kept going wherever Navire was leading them. He drank, he shot stuff occasionally, but he never said a word. Navire thought he was contemplating how stupid this was getting and how they only had so few days left and they didn't even know the locations of Roland, Maya and Salvador so she chose not to ask him anything.

Axton was unusually quiet too. The normally loud and annoying commando was rather subdued, probably concerned for Zer0 and also way of his surroundings.

None of them said much.

Navire took out her ECHO and checked the map. Then she broke the silence. "We're almost there," she said. Mordecai acknowledged her with a grunt, by far the only sound he made within the past 2 hours. Axton just nodded, Lilith said, "Great."

WIthin another 10 minutes, they were in the Dahl Headlands. "Brilliant," Mordecai said, finally speaking, "now where's the nearest Fast-Travel?" Axton shifted Zer0 on his shoulder and looked around. If I remember clearly, there's one further out. We can take a Runner there," he stated.

Lilith reached the Fast-Travel first. Instantly, she began keying in the specifics of the Runner. "MG or Rockets?" she asked the group. Navire liked rockets, but an MG was more practical. "MG, I guess," she said. Mordecai and Axton made their silent agreement.

Suddenly, a black car with a machine gun digistructed out on the platform. Mordecai knew his place o a runner and scrambled up the gunner seat, swinging his SNS sniper out in front of him. Navire looked at the rest. "Who's driving?" she asked.

Lilith raised her hand. "I will," she offered. Navire swung her guns onto her back. "I'll run there, Axton can find space for himself and Zer0," she said, dropped onto fours. Her bones shifted into place and she looked up at the others. "Meet ya there," she purred, and sprinted off, leaving behind a cloud of dirt.

Lilith looked at Axton. "Hm…." she said, wondering what space there would be for Axton and Zer0. She managed to squeeze both of them into the runner, and she started up the engine, taking off down the dirt road.

Navire was already waiting for them at the Fast Travel. "What took you guys so long?" she asked. "Space restraint," Lilith explained hopping out of the runner. Navire had already keyed in "The Dust" in the Fast Travel station. "You guys ready?" she asked. Mordecai dropped onto the ground, landing perfectly.

Perfect, by Navire's standards, was a light landing with barely any sound, and the impact was evenly distributed throughout the body and not only concentrated at the feet. Mordecai could land perfectly. She loved him so much for that.

"Yeah, we're good to go," Axton said, once Mordecai had come up to them. Navire nodded and clicked on the Enter button on the Fast Travel, and they were teleported to the Dust.


	12. Chapter 12: Zer0

**A/N.: I apologise for the extremely short chapter I last posted, school was holding me down and the fact that I'm not allowed to use the computer on weekdays didn't let the story progress, then again it'd be unfair if I just made you all wait for a while longer for Chapter 11. I'll try to add more action this chapter!**

**G: XD **

The Dust was quiet as always. The was a faint whirr of wheels in the distant, but nothing was in the vicinity excel for sand, and Ellie's Garage, which was pretty quiet. It always was, until Ellie noticed her visitors.

"Well, damn fine of ya'll to visit me!" the large woman cried, as she sauntered up to the Vault Hunters. They turned, and Navire wondered once again how she could possibly be Moxxi's daughter. "Hey Ellie," Lilith said. Mordecai grunted his greeting, Navire nodded and Axton gave a "'Sup."

"What happened to this poor thing 'ere?" Ellie asked, poking Zer0. Navire shook her head. "That's why we're here. We need to find two of my friends but we also need someone to take care of Zer0 while we're gone. He's not exactly being useful like that," Navire said.

Ellie nodded. "I understand what ya goin' through," she said, taking Zer0 from Axton. "Ya'll don't worry yer little heads about yer friend 'ere. He be fine with me," Ellie said. Mordecai and Axton exchanged glances, but they had no argument.

"Ya'll better go runnin' off on yer adventure. Zer0 'ere will be right where ya put em when ya'll get back," Ellie reassured before she sent the Vault Hunters off.

Slightly reluctantly, the Vault Hunters turned and left the garage, and their friend. In the distance, a small figure skipped towards them. "Is that who I think it is?" Navire asked. "Who?" Lilith replied.

A small girl with a psycho mask on the side of her head came skipping merrily up to them. She paused in front of the Vault Hunters. "Long time no see!" she sang, her eyes brightening up at the sight of old friends.

Navire had no idea who this little girl was. And clearly she had no idea who Navire was either. "Who's that?" Tiny Tina asked, a slightly accusing tone of voice, "Ya girlfriend?" she said, looking at Mordecai. He, slightly embarrassed, nodded. "Yeah…" he said. Tiny Tina snorted, then she stuck her hand out.

"TIny Tina, nice to meet ya!" she cried. Navire liked her. She was bouncy and cheery. "Navire, leader of the Resistance. Nice to meet you," she said, shaking hands. Tiny Tina then redirected her attention to Axton, who she assumed was the leader of the group.

"So! Whatcha doin' out here in the Dust?" she asked. Axton glanced at the others. "We're trying to find Navire's friends. It's important," Axton said, then he paused. Mordecai shot him a glare. Lilith face palmed. He shouldn't have said it was important. Now Tiny Tina would follow them.

"Really?" Tiny Tina's eyes widened with excitement. "I wanna come along!" she squealed in delight. Navire cast an uneasy glance at Axton, who seemed rather…. unsure. "Uh…. I don't think that's a good idea. It's pretty dangerous," Axton said, trying to convince the 13-year old not to come along.

But he just made the situation worse. "I eat danger for breakfast, lunch, _and _dinner," she growled, pretty much ensuring she was coming along. Mordecai sighed. "I guess some extra help would be useful," he said, shooting Axton a glare as he walked by. Axton shrugged. "I guess…"

Sanctuary was buzzing with light conversation all around, just as always. Ronan had been glad to finally be in Snctuary. Leonard seemed to be slightly unfamiliar with his surroundings, though he was clearly a lot more comfortable.

Ronan led Leonard to the Raiders' HQ where they finally put down their load. Leonard sighed and flopped onto the couch. "My back hurts…" he groaned. "Yeah, mine too," Ronan agreed, but he headed up to the second level and searched around for any signs of Reiss, Mordecai or Angel.

There was barely anything changed since he was last here a few days ago. Which flicked a thought into his head. "How many days left?" he mumbled to himself. Probably two, or one left. Maybe three, hopefully. Four was just asking too much.

Leonard appeared at the doorway. "No signs of Reiss or Angel?" he asked. Ronan shook his head as he sifted through a pile of papers. "Nothing at all. You wanna head out and ask around?" he suggested.

Leonard shook his head. "You know the place and the people here better than I do," he said. Ronan sighed. "Okay then. I'll ask around. You stay here and rest your back." He watched as Leonard turned from the doorway and headed out onto the balcony, exiting the building from there.

First place he thought of was Scooter's. His legs carried him to the huge garage, where the lazy mechanic was sleeping on a chair. "Hey Scooter," Ronan said, flipping his cap off his head.

Scooter woke with a start. "Guh… what?" he mumbled as he reached down to the floor for his cap. At the same time, he looked back to see who was there. "Oh…. hey! It's you!" he said with delight. Ronan snorted. "Yeah you bet your ass it's me. Kinda surprised you remember me," he said.

Scooter got off the chair. "Of course I remember ya. Ronan, isn't it?" he asked. Ronan nodded, and wondered how many in Sanctuary remembered him.

"Any idea where Reiss is?" Ronan asked, hoping the mechanic knew. But Scooter shook his head, much to Ronan's dismay. "Ain't no one seen him here for awhile, hell he may not even be alive," he said.

Ronan sighed. "Thanks Scooter. If you get any news of Reiss, tell me, yeah?" Scooter just nodded. "I'm hoping for a sign that he's alive too," he said, waving Ronan off.

Tiny Tina hadn't shut up for the past hour they'd been riding the Dust. She had talked just about everything, from shooting, to Gaige, to Spiderants, to living on another planet. Navire had flattened her ears down to shut out her annoying voice.

Mordecai had learned how to shut out anything he didn't want to hear. He just sat upon the Gunner seat, his sniper in his hand. Right forefinger on the trigger, kept hand under the barrel, eye up to the scope. Tiny Tina's voice was nothing but a distant buzz to him.

Lilith was tolerating the irritating girl pretty well. She had just listened silently to her non-stop blabbering and said nothing, but she seemed to be bordering "irritated". Axton just drowned out her talk with the sound of the engine of the Runner.

Tiny Tina didn't seem to notice, or didn't seem to care that no one was listening. She just kept talking and never ran out of breath. Occasionally she paused to take a sip of water but apart from that, there had been non-stop talk from her mouth.

Navire raised her shock sniper to her eye and peered into the scope. Like Mordecai, sniping was her forte. She had been raised to use a sniper. It made her feel good. Just the thought of being able to see everyone so close, yet so far away. And being able to pick out a target and take him down with one bullet. It felt amazing. She loved it.

There was nothing in the distant but sand, sand and more sand. She noticed a spiderling pop out of the ground in a mound of sand, but it was so far away it was pointless chasing it.

Then the feline warrior turned to the front. "Axton, do you even know where we're going?" she asked. The commando up front shrugged. "No. I'm just driving," he said. Navire sighed. "I don't suppose anyone has a better lead?" she asked.

No one offered suggestions. Even Tiny Tina was quiet for the first time. "I guess we keep driving till we find something," Navire said, swinging her scope out again. Secretly, she hoped the E-beast would show up again for some action.

There were no bandit technicals out today, for some odd reason. Axton had hoped for a few, so he could chase them and gun them down. But there was really no one out except for them. Lilith seemed a lot more comfortable now that Tiny Tina had stopped talking. She rested the four-element gun on her lap and drew Axton's assault rifle, pointing it outwards into the sandy dunes.

Roland was driving himself crazy. Only 2 more days, and no one had made any form of communication with him. The last time he had talked to someone was when Navire had visited him days ago.

The tanned soldier rested his head against the wall of his confinement cell. The nomad guard just stared blankly ahead. Roland had given up attempting communication. He knew the guard wouldn't speak. Not to him, at least.

_At least let Lilith be safe. And Navire. Hell, let all of them be safe, _Roland thought, praying for particularly Lilith, to be free. Unlike him.

Very much unlike him.

A few more hours of driving later, and Navire lost her patience. "Dammit, they ain't here. Let's get the fuck out of this place," she hissed, sitting up straight. Axton glanced at her. "You sure?" he asked. Navire nodded, slightly irritated.

"Yes I'm sure. Let's go," she snapped. Axton just shrugged and turned the car around and began driving back to the Fast-Travel. Navire hated herself. She was confused, disorientated and irritated. The feeling irked and bugged her very much.

The ride back didn't take too long, and Navire instantly jumped out of the runner and headed into Ellie's garage.

"We're back!" she announced. Lilith, Tiny Tina, Mordecai and Axton followed her behind. Ellie turned from a car she was fiddling with. "Well howdy!" she said in her usual cheerful voice. Tiny Tina went further into the garage while the Vault Hunters remained further out.

"How's Zer0?" Mordecai asked, slinging his sniper over his back as Bloodwing flew in and landed on his shoulder. Ellie glanced behind her. "He's okay back there. Woke up once and passed right out again," she said. Axton pushed past the large woman into the back.

Zer0 was on a mattress, his back facing Axton. Axton walked up to him. "I sense your presence," Zer0 said, though he hadn't looked back. Axton paused. "You're awake," he said. Zer0 pushed himself up and swung his legs over the side of the mattress.

"And you're not dead," the Assassin noted. Axton glanced dow at himself. "No, clearly not. The others are outside, want them in?" he offered. Zer0 nodded, but said nothing.

Axton walked back to the door and poked his head out, beckoning for the others to come in. Navire let Lilith and Mordecai enter first, and she closed the door behind her.

Lilith instantly sat down next to Zer0. "Feeling okay?" she asked. He wasn't sure who to respond. "I don't know," he sighed, slouching. Navire pent over and picked up the hilt of his sword, handing it to him. Zer0 looked up and took it from her, sliding it back into its sheath. "Thanks," he said.

Navire just nodded. Mordecai glanced at the door. "You fit enough to go? We're losing time," he growled, though Navire could sense concern in his voice. Zer0 pushed himself off the bed. He was slightly unsteady, but good enough.

"Great, since he can walk, let's go," Mordecai said, opening the door again. He left first, followed by Zer0, Lilith, Navire and Axton.

Ellie watched as they appeared from the room. "Ya'll leavin' already? Alrighty," she said, turning and opening a weapon crate and taking out Zer0's guns. Zer0 took them back and placed them back where they belonged. "Thanks Ellie, much appreciated," he said in his usual robotic voice.

Ellie waved them off from her garage, and Tiny Tina followed them. "Zer0!" she giggled with excitement. Zer0 glanced down at the short girl. "Hello Tina," he said, before looking straight again as Lilith tapped in a destination with Mordecai by her side.

Navire twitched her ears. "Where are we going?" she asked. Mordecai looked up. "Back to the Wildlife Preserve. I'm heading up to Casa de Mordecai," he said, and with a click of a button, they were on their way to the Wildlife Preserve.


	13. Chapter 13: Stargazing

**A/N.: Happy Chinese New Year and Valentines day! Since the romantic festival is coming up, let's have a little more lovey-dovey moods in this chapter! Also, a notice on my other story, Hit and Run. It's on hold for now since I want to fully focus on 10 Days first, and once this story is over, I will continue Hit and Run. Please also tell me if you want a sequel to 10 Days :)**

**G: Hehe, Navire thanks you for the items and she asked me to send a kiss from her :)**

The grass was soft under Navire's bare feet. She shifted herself to see what was beyond the rocks that blocked her view. The last time she was here was years ago. "Stalkers," she said, "Lots of them. They weren't here the last time I was." She pulled her shock sniper from across her back and lifted the scope to her eye.

Mordecai drew his SNS sniper he had bought from Marcus and crouched next to Navire, looking into the scope. Before he or Navire took a shot, she raised her head and pecked Mordecai on the cheek. "Good luck," she purred, before she took her aim again.

Both of them breathed simultaneously, and their finger tightened down on the trigger. With unparalleled accuracy, both of them fired at the same time and took down four stalkers, both bullets piercing through two stalkers.

The rest of them erupted in hisses and the two snipers scrambled to their feet. Axton flung down his Dahl Sabre Turret in front of them as Navire and Mordecai flipped out two more efficient guns.

Navire slung her sniper over her back and pulled out her Provocative Bane, the so-called "cursed" gun. She didn't really care about the "curse", even though three people who had wielded the gun all had died under it. She had it for months. She was still standing. The flaming gun set a stalker on fire, making it visible to the sabre turret at it burned and hissed.

Mordecai pulled his shock revolver from his holster and began unloading the bullets onto stalkers, particularly aiming those with shields. The electricity devastated their shields and they hissed as the bullets managed to penetrate into their flesh and send electricity coursing into their nervous system.

Lilith hadn't wasted any time in whipping out a Glorious Havoc, one of the guns she had picked up along the way back a few years ago when she was in Skag Gully. The trusty assault rifle put a few dozens of bullets into the stalkers that dared venture closer.

Zer0 was tempted to go into Decepti0n and go kill a few stalkers, but he knew he wasn't fit for it and stayed back, taking out spring stalkers with a Dahl SMG. The gun bucked in his hand as he zoomed and burst fired a full set of bullets into a stalker's face.

Axton swung his tomahawk from his back and ripped it across the ugly face of a stalker. "I could have done worse," he snarled to the stalker, which roared and hissed as blood trickled down its face. It backed away, but Axton put a shotgun's two bullets right through its face before it had the chance to retreat. "Bitch," he muttered as he loaded the shotgun up again.

Navire kicked a stalker back and leapt in front of the sabre turret, smashing her heel into the side of the stalker's head. Her claws ripped into its horrendous face and it screamed. "Hope it hurts biatch," she hissed as she drew her scimitar and swung it down on its neck.

Axton held his fire. He looked around at the empty, bloody grasslands. "Good job guys," he panted. Navire sheathed her scimitar again and waited for the group to catch up with her. Once they had met with her, they kept walking, Mordecai in the lead since he knew best the way to his little retreat.

Ronan returned to the Raider's HQ with no lead on Reiss. He sighed as he closed the door behind him. Leonard was sleeping on the couch, one hand dangling off the couch. Ronan nudged him awake.

"What…. oh, you're back," Leonard said with a yawn. Ronan smiled, then he sat down on the opposite couch. "Yeah," he said. Leonard could sense his disappointment. "Why the sad face?" he asked.

Ronan looked up from Navire's pistol, which he had drawn from his holster and placed in his palms. "I got nothing. Nothing at all. No one here knows where Reiss is, nor do any of them know where he last was," he sighed. Leonard blinked. "That sucks," he said.

Ronan nodded. "It does. I think we should go check New Haven. He might be there," he suggested. Leonard shrugged, brushing his hair aside. "What are the odds?" he asked. Ronan shook his head. "A lot better than anywhere else," he said, getting off his seat.

Up at Casa de Mordecai, the group had stocked up on ammo from the Ammo Dump machine Mordecai had stolen from goodness knows where. He had also managed to hack the system and made the prices $1 each, since it didn't permit free items.

Navire sat down on a rock and loaded all her guns, mainly her trusty Dahl Corrosive Fox SMG, Dahl Reserve Lascaux, her Maliwan slag sniper and her Provocative Bane. She also made sure her Ptoential shotgun was fully loaded, though it wouldn't shut up when she was reloading it.

"Be quiet," she scolded the talking shotgun as she opened its hatch and put in a clip of bullets. It went silent for a few seconds, then said, "Sorry." Navire accepted its apology and closed the hatch, loading the gun and tucking it back in her backpack.

Mordecai sat on his chair by the circle of rocks where a fire had once burned while he still lived here before the old Vault Hunters had been regrouped again. He polished his SNS sniper and made sure it was shiny and gleaming.

"Just how I like it," he said, as he turned his sniper around to take a look at it. It was gleaming, like it was new. Though he was sure it was more than a few months old already. He stood up and placed the sniper on his seat, walking over to Navire and sitting down next to her.

Navire was slowly unwrapping the bandage that covered her entire left arm, from shoulder to slightly above the wrist. She looked at Mordecai as he sat down next to her, but went back to unwrapping her arm. Mordecai said nothing, and wasn't shocked at the gash that still remained on her arm even after a few years. It would never heal properly, as far as both of them knew.

Axton returned to the main clearing. He ignored Mordecai and Navire and went to talk to Lilith and Zer0, who were starting a fire with a Maliwan fire elemental gun and a bunch of shredded papers and rocks. Zer0 had hauled a dead stalker with them to cook.

"It's never gonna heal, huh?" Mordecai asked. Navire gently brushed at the fur closest to the scar and shook her head. "No, probably not. With luck it might," she said, smiling. She had suffered through the first few months after getting the scar from being tortured by the Dahl corporation which hated hated her for reasons unknown. She had gotten in contact with Axton before she actually knew him, asking him to try figure out why Dahl hated her, while Axton was still serving Dahl.

She never did find out. Axton couldn't get the info. But Navire didn't blame him. The Dahl corporation was really secretive, and they didn't trust even their own people.

Navire watched as Mordecai got off the rock and headed to a box, which he opened and took out a roll of bandage. He turned and tossed it to Navire, who caught it on the fly. She fully unraveled the old bandage and let it fall to the ground by her feet. Then she began wrapping her arm again with the fresh roll.

Mordecai watched Navire's swift movements, movements she had practiced many, many times over a course of a few years. She threw the roll around her arm with practiced precision, perfectly covering every bit of the awfully long gash Dahl had inflicted upon her.

Navire cut off the rest of the bandage and tossed it back to Mordecai, who stepped aside and let it fall back into the box.

Axton then called the two over. "Hey guys, we got food!" he called from the fire where he, Lilith and Zer0 were roasting stalker meat. Mordecai offered his hand to Navire who took it and the two walked over to the others.

"Very cute you two, you two make a good couple, congratulations," Zer0 said, and a 3 emoticon appeared on his faceplate. Navire giggled and blushed, though her fur hid it. Mordecai used his sword to split up the meat and divided it among the five of them.

The sun was starting to set over the horizon, marking the end of their second last day. Lilith looked up at the sky. "Well, tomorrow is our final day. Our last chance to find the other three Vault Hunters," she said.

Zer0 glanced at her. "Three?" he asked, "Who are the three?" he asked. Lilith shrugged. "I just never really considered Brick as a true Vault Hunter. He had some…. issues, fitting in with us," she said. Mordecai nodded. "Can't agree more," he said. Navire bit into her stalker meat. "It's true," she said.

"So you're implying that you don't think Brick is captive?" Axton asked. Lilith nodded. "And even if he was captured, he'd stomp on everyone and kill them all," she said. Morecai snorted and bit into the stalker meat. "Not bad…" he said.

Navire swallowed and rested her head on Mordecai's shoulder. She gazed up at the darkening sky. "Do you think we'll be able to find the rest?" she asked. Her question didn't seem to be asked to the whole group. But only to Mordecai. Like the rest didn't exist for the moment the stars were beginning shine against the sky.

Mordecai sighed.. "I don't know. Maybe we can, maybe we can't," he said. Navire lifted her head off Mordecai's shoulders and finished up her stalker meat, which was still warm. Mordecai swallowed the last bit of it and tossed the stick the meat ha been impaled on aside into the fire.

Zer0 got up from his place by the fire and went to the other side of the hilly clearing. He lay down and turned his back to the others, falling asleep almost instantly. Axton yawned and curled up against a small rock. Lilith had gone into the cave for her fair share of rest.

Navire glanced at Mordecai. "You and me up tonight for guard duty?" she asked, smiling. Mordecai smiled back. "Why not?" he asked. Navire got up and walked to the edge of the cliff, holding her shock sniper in her hands, the stock resting on her lap. Mordecai ensured his revolver was in his holster and The Orion in his lap.

Navire's feet dangled off the edge of the cliff. She looked down the scope of blue-highlighted sniper and peered at the stalkers roaming around the fields in the valley below. Then she shifted her sniper to face the Hyperion Facility. No loaders roamed there. And none would until someone alerted them.

Mordecai just stared out at the hills and grass. Navire glanced at him. "Thinking about something?" she asked. Mordecai blinked and shook his head. "No," he said. Navire knew he was hiding something, but she decided not to press for details.

She just sighed and looked back out at the fields and rocks. "Do you think we'll be able to civilise the Borderlands?" she asked. Mordecai shrugged and sent Bloodwing to fetch him some rakk ale. "Maybe, maybe not. It really depends. Maybe after we defeat Hyperion, Dahl will try to take over. Just like what happened after we dealt with Atlas. Or Jakobs. Or Torgue or Tediore or SNS or Vladaf or Mailwan. It really depends. There may even be a third vault. And a fourth and fifth. And there might be generations of Vault Hunters after us. After Axton and his team," Mordecai said.

Navire considered the options. "I have a feeling Dahl will try cause some trouble and seize power once we open the second Vault and get rid of Hyperion," she said, frowning. Mordecai felt something tap on his shoulder. He turned his head and Bloodwing was hovering there, her talons gripping onto the nozzle of a glass bottle. He nodded to her and took the bottle from her, before she landed on his shoulder lightly.

"Are you hoping there will be a third vault?" Mordecai asked as he popped the cap of the bottle. Navire smiled, just the tiniest bit. "I don't know. Half of me yearns for another adventure after this one ends, the other half is telling me I'm getting old and finding the Vault is really hard and risky," she said.

Mordecai raised an eyebrow. "The latter, it's someone true. We're all growing old. By far the youngest among us is Lilith, as far as I know. But it's a possibility Zer0's younger, though I highly doubt so." He took another swig and seemed pretty satisfied. "I'm sure this adventure won't end so soon. Hyperion won't give up so easily and I sure as hell don't want them to. It's risky, sure, but that's what New-U stations are for."

Behind them, Axton stirred. Navire and Mordecai turned to see if he would wake up, but he just rolled over and fell asleep again. Navire smiled. "But what happens if we manage to civilise the Borderlands? It's an end to our adventure."

Mordecai just put one arm around Navire. "It's sure an end to our current one, but it's a whole new adventure. We'll have to turn this place into a liveable city. A country. It's not going to be that easy," he said, glancing at her.

Navire giggled as Mordecai slipped his hand around her. "Yes, but I'll miss having to run around and shoot things and risk my own life many times." She yawned once, then lifted her scope up to her eye again to peer at the stalkers down below, which were beginning to settle down for sleep.

Mordecai removed his hand from Navire and looked into the landscape further out. Something was moving out there. He lifted his scope up to his eye and tried to see what was moving. It wasn't clear, in the night mist. But he was certain it was big. And purple. And familiar.

"Well shit," Mordecai hissed, as he stood up. Navire looked up at Mordecai. "What?" she asked.

"That E-beast. It's here," he snarled.


	14. Chapter 14: Death's grip

**A/N. It's time for another chapter of fighting and blood and E-beasts! I just hit level 26 in Borderlands 2, I'm in the Arid Nexus Badlands, trying to get to the Hyperion Info Stockade. Spoiler: Roland died in the game…. Handsome Jack shot him after I killed Angel. :'( RIP Roland. We'll miss you. But! In my story, HE LIVESSSS!**

**Brutus: Thank you! It seems not all my chapters are exactly up to my standard, but if you like them, I'm happy :)**

**G: Thank you! I never consider myself that great *blushes* There are plenty of writers out there better than me :) I won't say anything, just see if they'll be alright. And aw…. thank you *kisses* You're adorable :) Love ya too.**

Navire scrambled to her feet. "You're kidding me," she hissed, taking a look through her own sniper scope. Sure enough, the same E-beast was lingering around the fields near the Hyperion outpost. "Dammit," she cursed, lowering her scope. "Wake the others," she said. Mordecai nodded and turned, nudging Axton awake with his foot.

"Get up. The E-beast is here and we need to get our asses out of here before it finds us," the Hunter hissed. Axton took a second to register the info, before he leapt to his feet and grabbed his items off the floor.

Zer0 and Lilith heard the clang of Axton's guns and instantly jumped to their feet. "Why is the beast back, how has it followed us here, I thought it left us," Zer0 snarled as he gathered his things. Lilith shrugged. "I don't know, but we getter get the hell out of here fast," she said as she hauled her backpack over her shoulder. Tiny Tina was waiting for them by the stone arch. "Let's go guys!" she called, glancing down at the E-beast in the plains.

Navire swiped Ronan's pistol of the floor. "Let's go," she said, her voice rushed. The Vault Hunters rampaged down the hill, hoping not to make too much noise to alert the E-beast which was dangerously close. Even the stalkers had retreated to safety from the beast which lurked just slightly further out.

"Where to?" Tiny Tina asked as she activated the Fast Travel station. Axton, Lilith, Zer0 and Mordecai kept watch for the E-beast while Navire and Tiny Tina fiddled to the machine. "New Haven. I have a feeling Ronan and Leonard are there," Navire said.

Tiny Tina's fingers flew across the screen as she keyed in "New Haven" into the machine. Suddenly, from behind them, Axton yelled. "Shit!" Navire turned her head to see the E-beast charging right at them. "Activate it!" she yelled. Tiny Tina slammed down on the "Enter" button on the screen, and they were teleported to New Haven.

The E-beast saw the portal open and the Vault Hunters get sucked in. Knowing it wanted to kill them, it hauled itself into the portal as well.

Ronan and Leonard wandered around New Haven, taking a look in all buildings. Practically no one existed in the rundown town, except for a bandit thug which Ronan had punched and killed him. "Found anything yet?" Ronan asked as he came round the corner to find Leonard searching the rooms.

"No," Leonard said, closing the door behind him as he left the building. "No signs of Reiss. Or anyone else but us," he sighed. Suddenly, the Fast-Travel station blinked. "Someone's coming," Leonard said, stepping away from the machine and holding his shotgun in an offensive position. Ronan armed his assault rifle.

A huge purple beast spawned from the machine, looking around in confusion of a few seconds. "Christ, what the fuck is that?!" Leonard yelped ad the E-beast turned its attention to Ronan and Leonard.

Instinctively, both of them fired at the beast, which snorted and deflected the bullets. "Fuck," Ronan snarled as he unloaded a full clip of incendiary bullets from his assault rifle into the beast. A few bullets impaled it, but the rest bounced of it harmlessly. It roared and leapt at Ronan, crashing him into a wall.

"Ronan!" Leonard called, aiming a few shots in the E-beast's head. It turned from Ronan and lumbered at Leonard like a gigantic badger, sweeping him aside with a massive paw like Leonard was a mere feather. Leonard tumbled on the ground and rolled to his feet, right next to the Catch-A-Ride.

Ronan scrambled to his feet and opened fire again, but none of his bullets dealt any damage to it. "God dammit, what the hell does anything to you?" he growled, willing his shield to charge up again.

From behind the E-beast, a rocket flew straight at it. It blew up against the E-beast's back, doing it considerable damage. "Fuck yeah," Leonard smiled from the Runner. He turned up the ignition and drove straight at the E-beast, ramming and rolling over it's foot.

Before the E-beast had time to wrench it's awfully oversized paw from under the wheels of the Runner, Leonard fired a couple more rockets before reversing and turning away before the car was swiped aside.

From the other side of New Haven, another Fast Travel station blinked. The Vault Hunters teleported in from it, all ready and fired up. "Dammit, the fuckin' E-beast even followed us here," Axton growled as he heard the roars of the E-beast, followed by some yelling which Navire recognised immediately.

"Ronan!" she screamed, dropping onto fours and letting her structure morph. "See you guys," she said, before she sprinted away into New Haven, leaving the others to catch up. The run was short and barely tiring, and Navire jumped onto twos as soon as she saw the E-beast's head.

She flung down a slag grenade by its feet, letting it blow up under the beast, which growled and tried to wipe off the slag. Ronan turned to see who had thrown the grenade, and was delighted to see his leading Commander. "Navire!" he called. She didn't look at him, but she flicked an ear to acknowledge his presence. Leonard drove his smoking car up to Navire. "Hop in," he offered. But Navire shook her head. "Not me. Get Tiny Tina in the gunner seat," she said, flicking her tail at Tiny Tina who came running up with the group.

Tiny Tina jumped into the Gunner seat. "Tiny Tina, nice to meet ya!" she giggled as Leonard took off. Leonard glanced back. "Leonard Winger. Pleasure's all mine," he said. Tiny Tina screamed as she fired rockets at the E-beast.

Axton hurled down his Sabre turret by the E-beast and let it do its job, unleashing its rain of rockets and bullets on the E-beast, which seemed only mildly affected. Mordecai climbed up a building, a decent distance away from the beast, and took out The Orion. She lifted the scope up to his eye, and took the time to adjust himself for the perfect shot. The urgency of the matter didn't rush his movements. Once his crosshairs lay perfectly in the centre of the beast's eye, he pulled the trigger back, keeping the gun steady as it fired. He kept the scope to his eye to watch the bullet pierce its eye. Then his ECHO buzzed. "Nice shot, Mordy. Keep up the backing fire," Axton's voice came through.

Lilith had instantly gotten to using the quad-element gun, which dealt quite a lot of damage to the beast. Navire dropped all her guns with Axton. "Use any gun you like," she snarled, unsheathing both scimitars. She got that crazed look in her eye again just like when she flared up at Axton the first time he accidentally teleported them to New Haven and Axton knew the E-beast was in for it.

Navire silently ran forward, jumping across obstacles with incredible agility. She leapt from a platform onto the beast's back and climbed up smoothly onto its head. "Don't ever fuck with my friends, she growled, stabbing both scimitars into the beast's eye and twisting the blades.

The beast roared in fury and bucked around, trying to throw Navire off, but she hung on like a cowboy. The E-beast was hurling Eridium everywhere in its rage, but none of it could hit Navire while she was on its head.

Zer0 went into Decepti0n and ran up to the E-beast joining Navire on it's head. Navire could sense his presence and turned her head as she wrenched her blades out. "Zer0," she acknowledged the seemingly empty air next to her.

Zer0 said nothing, but he stood up on the bucking beast's back and stabbed his blade down, just before he exited Decepti0n. His form became visible again and he nodded to Navire, who shifted herself and wrenched her long sword which she had taken with her into its other eye.

Mordecai waited back on the rooftop silently, patiently, waiting for the next shot. He constantly adjusted himself until his crosshairs lay perfectly on its already damaged eye. He pulled the trigger back, and at the same time, a bandit behind him slashed his knife down Mordecai's back. Mordecai yelled in pain and swung his elbow back, smashing it into the bandit's face. Bloodwing heard Mordecai yell and flew over immediately, landing with her talons digging into the bandit's face. The bandit screamed as Bloodwing tore out his eyes and flung them away, pushing the dying bandit off the building and onto the ground.

Concerned, Bloodwing flew back up to the top of the building and hopped around Mordecai who was lying on his side. The back of his shirt was stained with his blood, but he knew it was a shallow cut. Long, but shallow because of the way his back was arched when he was taking his aim. "Ow… dammit," he hissed, pushing himself up. He forced the pain aside into a box in his mind, taping up the box, beating the shit out of it and sending the box with his pain to Eden-6. He looked into the scope again, waiting for the next perfect shot.

Axton was waiting for his turret to recharge, he hid behind a wall with Navire's guns by his side. He took a look through them and realised she had the Proactive Bane. Annoying as it was with its screaming, it was a good gun. But the first few shots would be inaccurate since it was a Hyperion Gun. He sifted through the rest of her artillery, and found Moxxi's Bad Touch.

The red corrosive gun gleamed in the sunlight, and Axton decided to try it out. He never really tried it before, and figured now was a good chance. He twisted himself out of hiding and brought the scope to his eye, firing the SMG freely. The Navire looked down at the E-beast roared as the acid corroded its flesh and looked around to see where the bullets had come from. She saw Axton peeking out with Moxxi's Bad Touch and flicked her ear. Suddenly, the E-beast threw itself around and flung Zer0 and her off. Navire landed on the ground on her back some 30 metres away, right at the feet of a bandit thug, who stabbed his knife down on Navire's ear. She shrieked and tore her ear away from the knife, leaving a bleeding cut on her ear. She flattened them in annoyance and pounced on the bandit thug, wrestling the bloody knife out of his hands and kicking him in the face over and over again till she broke his jaw and left him there. She snapped off his hands to make sure he couldn't take anything, and kept the knife he had torn her ear with.

Instinctively, her hand raised to touch her ear gently. It stung like fury, and she knew that ears bled a lot, though it wasn't really fatal. She wiped the blood off before she grabbed the knife and hurled it at the E-beast's throat.

Ronan took out a Glorious Havoc, a decent Vladaf combat rifle. He made sure he had a full clip of bullets before unleashing the rain of bullets on the E-beast, who was weak and dying. Tiny Tina was still firing rockets, but she had stopped screaming. Leonard noticed it was at the edge of a cliff, and below were spiky rocks. "Hold on Tina," he said, before he revved up and flung the runner forward, smashing onto the E-beast and sending it falling off the cliff and into the spiky rocks below. He stopped the car just in time before he and Tiny Tina went hurtling off as well.

Mordecai saw the beast fall off the cliff and climbed down the building, his back still stinging from the cut. He headed back to the group, who were tired , but victorious.

"That was… amazing," Navire panted, flicking her torn ear. Ronan smiled. "It was a good fight guys, thanks for coming," he said. And suddenly, a gunshot rang through New Haven. A bloody hole formed through Ronan's chest, and he collapsed to the ground.

"RONAN!" Navire screamed, looking up wildly at the Bandit holding a smoking shotgun. "You…." she hissed, her voice getting dangerously low. She screamed and pounced on the Bandit, though she didn't shoot him or whatever. Instead, she grabbed him and broke every bone in his body except the vital bones, before throwing him aside and rushing up to Ronan.

"No no no no no…" she panted as she shook Ronan, "Ronan you can't die! Not just like that!" she screamed, shaking him. Mordecai put his hand on her shoulder. "He's dead," he said softly. Navire looked wildly at him. "He can't be…" she said. As much as she didn't want to believe it, she knew Ronan was gone. "I… I'm sorry, Ronan," she whispered, reaching her hand forward. She removed her pistol from his holster, before looking at it. She wanted to leave her pistol with him, but she knew a bandit would get his hands on it. She slid the pistol back into her holster and stood up.

"Let's go," she said softly. She turned and began walking away, leaving the others behind to catch up. Mordecai followed her, completely ignoring the pain in his back. Leonard looked back at Ronan for a last time. "You were good, Ronan," he said, "I guess death gets the better of us sometimes. Rest in Peace, Ronan. I'll take care of Navire for you," he said to his fallen comrade, before turning and walking away with the rest of the group.

The group had returned to Navire's shack out in the middle of nowhere. Navire had tried to force Ronan's death out of her mind while she washed herself up in the river. She returned to the shack dripping wet and grabbed a towel off the table.

"Now what? We have less than 24 hours, and we haven't found Salvador, Roland or Maya," Mordecai asked, as he took off his bloody shirt. He removed the belt with his ECHO and his sword and tossed them on the couch, turning to the door to wash his back which stung.

"Geez, Mordecai. That's nasty," Axton said as he bound up the cut on his hand. Mordecai looked back, "It's not that bad," he said, leaving the shack. Navire hadn't said a word. Leonard hadn't either. Tiny Tina sensed the sadness and she seemed affected by it took.

When Mordecai returned, Navire told him to lie down. She tended to his back silently. Lilith looked around the room. "I guess our next move is to find the rest as soon as we can," she said. Navire said nothing.

Axton sighed. "We need to leave soon. I'm not about to let more people die anymore," he said.


	15. Chapter 15: 1 Hour left

**A/N. Well guys, the story is coming to an end soon, probably in the next 2 chapters or so, or even in the next chapter. :( But do not worry! I have already planned a sequel! So once this story has ended, I will begin the sequel immediately!**

Around evening, the Vault Hunters were packing up again and getting ready to leave Navire's shack. To end this madness once and for all. So save their friends and prevent anymore tragic deaths from happening.

Mordecai slipped on his shirt again, not really caring that the blood still remained in his shirt. Navire had bounded his back neatly to make sure the knife slash wouldn't split open again, though she seemed pretty moody while she did it. She hadn't gotten over Ronan's death, and Mordecai figured she wouldn't for awhile.

He clipped on his belt again and adjusted his sword on his back, while Bloodwing waited patiently on the other side of the room for Mordecai to get comfortable before she settled on his shoulder. He adjusted his goggles before stretching his hand out to Bloodwing, a sign that she could come settle on his arm. The bird took off her temporary perch and landed lightly on Mordecai's arm.

Axton checked his bag to make sure he had sufficient supplies, enough to last him the night. He had water, ammunition, guns, health-vials, grenades and spare shields. And a small box with the word "Dahl" imprinted on it. His sabre turret. The thing that prevented him from getting killed so many times.

Lilith was packed and ready to go, she stood by the doorway with Zer0 and watched her friends pack up. In her holster, she had the quad-element gun, fully loaded and ready for action. She sighed and glanced at Zer0, who flashed her a question mark. Lilith just shook her head. She felt so upset when she saw Navire break down by Ronan's body. She attempted to force the images out of her mind. _Focus, Lilith. Focus, _she told herself.

Navire hadn't said much since Ronan's death. She had only said two words, and that was when she told Mordecai to lie down on the couch so she could take a look at the slash on his back. Apart from that, she had said nothing at all. She stood by the sword display on her wall and packed her own supplies, tossing in all her blades into the bag with her other things.

Tiny Tiny didn't need much. She borrowed Navire's rocket launcher and took her own dynamite and grenades, and that was all she needed. She slumped on the couch, the silent mood getting to her. But she knew better than to speak.

Leonard hasn't said anything either. He seemed pretty upset with his friend's death, and Mordecai knew how he felt. He had witnessed many deaths on his part and he knew how heartbreaking it was. Leonard just sat on the couch, his items packed neatly next to him in a bag, and his head in his hands.

Navie turned from her bag and flicked her tail to the door. It was time to leave. Time to find their friends and save them from impending doom. Navire hopped into her modified runner she always kept parked next to the shack, Mordecai and Zer0 shared the gunner seat, and Axton got into the passenger seat Navire had fit in, leaving Lilith and Tiny Tina to the other Runner.

Navire drove straight to the Fast-Travel station, and got out of the Runner. She took out her ECHO and keyed in something, contacting someone she hadn't in a long time. She hoped he'd pick up, and silently willed him to, wherever he was.

Then she heard a click.

"Hello?" a familiar voice came. Navire's lips curled into a slight smile. "Dad," she purred.

Reiss immediately woke up with the sound of Navire's voice from his ECHO. "Navire!" he said, delighted. He had missed the feline, the one he called his daughter. "Where are you?" he asked, instantly getting off the couch and grabbing his pistol off the floor.

"Dad, I need you to do to the Bloodshot Stronghold, now," Navire said, her voice slightly rushed. In the background, he heard some other voices. "Navire, where are you? And who's with you?" he asked, with all the concern of a true father. Not that he ever was one.

"Oh yeah, Dad, you might want to say hi to some familiar people," Navire said, handing the ECHO to Zer0, who took it from her. "Reiss," he greeted. Reiss instantly recognised the robotic, monotonous tone of voice. "Zer0, glad to know you're still alive," he acknowledged. A smiley face emoticon appeared on Zer0's faceplate. "We all thought you're dead, it is good that you're alive, Axton wants to talk," he said, tossing the ECHO to Axton, who caught it on the fly.

"Hey Reiss, been a long time," he said, leaning against the runner. Reiss smiled. "So it has, Axton. Who else is there?" he asked. Axton looked up. "Lilith, Mordecai, Tiny Tina and Leonard," he replied. Leonard. The guy who had saved his ass so many times.

"Do you mind if I speak to Reiss again?" Navire asked, extending her hand to take back her ECHO. Axton tossed it to her and she caught it. "Dad, just get to the Bloodshot Stronghold," she said, turning around and looking into the sky.

"Why?" Reiss asked, twirling the pistol in his hands. Some static buzzed over the ECHO. "Just go Dad. And bring as much backup as possible. Scooter, Marcus, Moxxi, Tannis, Brick if you can find him, Zed, Jessup, anyone. Anyone you can find A.S.A.P. We're gonna need a hell lot of backup," Navire said.

"Navire, I'm not going to do anything till you tell me why," Reiss demanded. He wanted to know what kind of trouble she had gotten herself into. Navire sighed over the ECHO. "Dad, Ronan's dead. And it's my fault. And for the past 9 days, the Vault Hunters and I have been running around, trying to find all the other Vault Hunters who have been locked up by some mystery man. We only have a few hours to find Roland, Maya and Salvador, I got the rest. And I have a feeling Roland's in the Bloodshot Stronghold," she said.

Reiss paused. "Ronan's dead?" he repeated. Navire made an "mm hmm" sound. "I'm sorry Dad… I'll explain later. Just get as much backup as possible, even Claptrap if he's worth it and go to the Bloodshot Stronghold. We'll meet you there," she said, before clicking off her ECHO.

She turned to the group. "Let's go. We'll try clear off as many bandits as we can in advance and try to find Roland first," she said, activating the Fast-Travel machine.

Reiss was about to ask more questions but Navire had disconnected the call. He sighed and attached his ECHO to his belt, before jumping off the couch and shoving supplies in his bag. Whatever he could carry. Any guns that were worth it. And he took the Fast Travel back to Sanctuary.

Back in Sanctuary, he ran out of Peace Station and into the Raider's HQ. Oh, the familiar place. He remembered being here. With Roland and all. Tannis was scribbling notes in the so-called living room. Reiss ran up. "Tannis," he greeted, Tannis looked up with a shock. "Goodness me, Reiss, you scared the living daylights out of me. I thought you were dead," she said.

Reiss rolled his eyes. "Well I'm not. I need you to grab a bag, fill it with ammo, take a gun and come with me, " Reiss said. Tannis raised an eyebrow, but she set her notebook and pencil aside. "Whatever for, Reiss?" she asked. Reiss sighed. "No time to explain. But it's a matter of Roland's life or death," he said, leaving the HQ. Before he closed the door, he heard Tannis getting up and taking a bag out of the closet, and he knew he had gotten her to come.

He ran out and went straight to Dr. Zed's blood filled clinic. He was messing around with a knife, tossing it in the air and catching it back in his palm. "Zed," Reiss called. The doctor looked up from his little game with the knife. "Oh hey Reiss…. wait a second, aren't you supposed to be dead?" he asked. Reiss slouched a bit. "I get that a lot. But I'm standing here and talking to you. Now grab a gun and ammunition. We're gonna go blast the hell out of some bandits. Roland's life depends on it," Reiss said, leaving before Zed had a chance to ask a question. But he heard Zed's rifle clicking behind him and smiled.

Next, Reiss sprinted to to Marcus' Munitions, where he found Marcus polishing a pistol. "Marcus, I know you think I'm supposed to be dead, but I'm not. Bring as many guns as you can and all the ammo you can get your hands on. We got to blast some bandits and Roland's life depends on it," he said, before turning and sprinting back up.

"Dammit, this is taking too long," Reiss hissed, before he ran to the main control station in Sanctuary. He grabbed the microphone and turned it open. "Hello? Is this working? Sanctuary, I'm Reiss. I know you all think I'm dead but I'm right here and talking. Roland, Salvador and Maya are captured, and my daughter Navire knows where Roland is, so those who want to save him, grab a gun, ammunition and meet me at Peace Station now," he said, clicking off.

He grabbed his own things and left the control station, heading down to Peace. He hoped people would come, and in 15 seconds, Moxxi was strolling in with her Good Touch in her hand. "I wouldn't mss a chance like this for the world," she purred. Marcus, Zed and Tannis all join too, with their own guns. Marcus had hauled a crateful of his most powerful guns, and Zed was passing out shields with his free hand. His right hand was holding a hunting rifle. Tannis has a pistol of her own.

"Hey hey, you guys gonna blast the hell out of some bandits for Roland?" Scooter asked as he came in with his shotgun. Reiss nodded. "You in, Scooter?" he asked. Scooter saluted. "You bet your ass I'm in," he said.

In a few more minutes, Jessup, Claptrap and Hammerlock had joined, and Reiss didn't want to wait anymore. He looked at his backup. Not the best, but decent. He activated the Fast Travel and they were all on their way to the Bloodshot Stronghold to help his daughter and her friends.

Navire gave the bandit and uppercut with her clawed fist, slamming it into his jaw. She hooked her hand around his neck and twisted, breaking the bandit's neck with a snap. She could feel the vibration in the ground as another bandit ran up behind her, attempting to stab her, but she easily whipped around and wrenched the knife from his hands, kicking him aside and into a wall. Then she threw the knife at him and let it impale the bandit.

Axton hadn't bothered deploying his turret, he just hit everyone with either the butt of his shotgun, or his tomahawk. No point in wasting bullets on pathetic people like them, he had told himself. He drove a midget's head into the ground with his foot and slammed his shotgun into his spine, killing the midget almost instantly.

Mordecai had resorted to using his shock revolver, blasting through the bandit's shields with them, them sending Bloodwing to tear their eyes out. He drew his sword and sliced a bruiser's hands clean off before Bloodwing came in for the attack and dug her claws into the bruiser. He faced the barrel of his revolver to the screaming bruiser and pulled the trigger back a few times, dropping him.

Lilith was phase walking every bandit she saw, sending them flying and disorientated. She yelled as she exited phase walk and blasted a nomad torturer back. Then she drew the quad-element gun and fired once, sending the nomad torturer into a screaming, burning frenzy. Lilith had noted the slag bullet flew faster than the rest, coating the enemy in slag before the rest of the bullets hit the target. Which made a lot of sense.

Leonard and Tiny Tina were back to back and up against a bunch of nomads. "No kick," Leonard growled, as he fired two incendiary bullets and let them pierce in nomad and set it on fire. Tiny Tina was just yelling and blasting rockets and rolling her seemingly limitless supply of grenades out. "This is the most fun I had in ages!" she screamed as she reloaded her rocket launcher and flung out another grenade.

Zer0 was having fun entering and exiting Decepti0n, slicing the heads of people. He hadn't fired his rifle once, but he was doing pure melee damage. Cutting off limbs, stabbing people, the thrill of the kill, the challenge it served. It felt so good.

The noise of the battlefield died gradually as the Vault Hunters dropped the bandits one by one. The battlefield was completely quiet after awhile, except for the panting of the Vault Hunters. None of them had sustained serious injuries at all.

Then the Fast Travel station blinked. "They're coming," Navire said, a smile forming on her face. Reiss and his backup formed from the Fast Travel, and Navire ran up to greet them. She hugged Reiss tightly. "Dad, I missed you so much," she said, burying her face in his shoulder. Reiss hugged her back tightly. "I missed you too, baby girl, especially after you grew up and left Sanctuary," he said.

Mordecai smiled. He personally never really knew what it was like to have parents who loved him, since his parents had sent him to Pandora to die, initially. But he had grown up. Learnt to survive. But he thought it would be nice to have parents who cared for him.

Navire then let go of Reiss. "Let's go," she said, running off. Zed seemed pretty proud of himself at turning Navire into such a lean, mean feline with an ability to morph her structure back. The group followed Navire further into the Bloodshot Stronghold, rampaging down anything in their way.

Roland was lying down in his cage, counting down the minutes before his demise. He had pretty much given up everything and was now only hoping for his friends' safety. He rested his head on his hands and stared at the ceiling, when he heard the gentle thunder of footsteps. He turned is head to the side to see who was coming. Loaders, probably. Here to drag him off.

But to his surprise and delight, Navire dashed into the room with Reiss and Mordecai. From outside the room, gunshots rang out as the rest of the team fended off more bandits and loaders.

"Thank god it's you guys," Roland said as he got up. He acknowledged Reiss with a nod. "Glad to see you're still alive, soldier," he said. Reiss just smiled. back. Navire pulled out her pistol and put it against the lock. "Step back, Roland," she warned, firing a bullet right through the lock, which fell apart instantly.

Mordecai pulled the door of the cage right open and Roland stepped out. It felt good to be free. "Thanks guys," he said, running to the doorway where the group was finishing off a final loader. They turned around and cheered at Roland's escape.

"It's really yourselves you should be thanking," he said. Lilith sauntered up to him and pecked him on the cheek. "Hiya badass," she cooed. Clearly she had been taking lesson on seducing from Moxxi.

"Come on guys, 1 hour left. Let's go find Salvador and Maya," Navire said, leaping over the crowd and dashing back to the Fast Travel.

Once the group had caught up, she raised her hand for silence. "Here's what we'll do. We'll split up. Everyone got an ECHO?" she asked as she tossed Roland his ECHO that the mysterious man had left in the Hyperion HQ. Everyone nodded.

"Brilliant. Zer0, Zed, Moxxi and Lilith will go to the Fridge. Roland, Scooter, Tannis and Marcus will go to the Highlands Outwash. Tiny Tina, Mordecai, Leonard and I will go to the Wildlife Preserve. Axton, Hammerlock, Claptrap, Reiss and Jessup will go to Friendship Gulag. Have I left out anyone?" Navire asked. Everyone had split into their respective groups, and no one had been left out. "Great. FInd Salvador or Maya, or both. If they're not in your location, go to the next place that hasn't been checked. Keep in contact over the ECHOs," she said, "but I don't want too many signals going across. Each team, assign a leader to receive and make ECHO calls," she ordered.

Deciding leaders didn't take too long. Zer0, Roland, Axton and Navire were chosen. "Okay," she sighed. "We'll keep in contact over ECHO. Report everything to each other," she said, stepping up to the Fast Travel with Mordecai, Tiny Tina, Leonard and Bloodwing. Mordecai keyed in "Wildlife Preserve" into the system and Navire looked back at her friends. "Best of luck," she purred.


	16. Chapter 16: Think about it

**A/N. Well guys, looks like this is the final chapter of 10 Days :( But do not worry, as I will begin my series immediately and I will also continue Hit and Run, which will delve deeper into the life of our beloved heroine, Navire.**

**G: I might just try sneak in his DNA into the New-U, but I don't plan for him to respawn here in 10 Days. If I'm up for it, he'll be back in the sequel, don't worry ;) The E-best sucks, doesn't it? I know how you feel bro. Don't worry, feel free to throw all yours and your brother's ideas at me if you ever feel like. Navire's pretty upset about Ronan's death too, especially so close to Valentine's day. But she got over it, I think. *hugs* Leonard will be there, as soon as he can. He definitely needs someone to talk to. And thank you :3 Sometimes I find myself unsatisfactory, but so long my fans like my stories, I'm quite happy. Adios, I will see you in my sequel and side stories.**

**Brutus: Sometimes, that's with a girl does when it's coming to an end of her short holidays and she wants to spend as much time as she can on something she loves. She writes, writes and writes! Ronan will be missed by all of us, but *hint hint* he **_**may **_**come back in the sequel. Just keep watch!**

The group quickened their steps, completely ignoring the stalkers who hissed at them and shot at their shields. "No time for that, bitches," Navire hissed as she darted past a stalker, which glared at her evilly and flung a needle at her shield. She growled as she sprinted with the group past them.

Mordecai was keeping pace pretty easily. His long stride allowed him to match Navire's fast pace. "Remind me," he said, "why are we searching here?" Navire cast him a sidelong glance before looking back to see if Tiny Tina and Leonard were keeping up. Sure enough, they were doing fine.

"I just have a feeling," Navire said simple, not really knowing what else to tell him. She looked at the sky. "Shit, less than an hour left," she hissed. She hoped that they could reach the heart of the preserve in time, or wherever Maya and Salvador were hidden.

"We're gonna need incendiary and corrosive guns," Navire said as her hand reached back to take out Moxxi's Bad Touch, "hope you guys have decent ones." Peeking out of the corner of her bag was a Sunny Octo shotgun, a pretty darn good incendiary gun, ready for when she needed it.

Leonard had a fire of determination in his eye, which Navire only noticed once they had reached the main building of the preserve. She looked at Leonard, and they nodded at each other. Leonard had his hands on a Corrosive pistol, the magazine and clip both full. "For Ronan," Navire said. Leonard nodded. "For Ronan."

Navire activated the door, and it slid open with ease. "Let's go," she ordered. Tiny Tina had a slag launcher mounted on her shoulder and her belt filled with explosives and grenades. "Let the fun begin," she giggled.

Mordecai crouched around a corner, the same damn corner that his head had been smashed against when he, Axton and Zer0 were there on their own. _I hope that damn experiment is still here, it'll probably help us, _he thought. He took out his sniper and looked around the corner of the wall. Navire was pressed against the wall next to him, with Leonard and Tina up against the opposite wall.

The Hunter scoped in and scanned the room. Nothing. "That's odd. Last time I was here there was a lot more than that," he said, keeping his sniper and taking out his revolver. Slowly, he stood up, his back stinging again.

Navire got up as well, signalling for Leonard and Tiny Tina to wait first. She and Mordecai slunk out of hiding and went further in, disappearing from sight.

Leonard resisted the temptation to follow them and stayed put right where he was. He closed his eyes and brushed his messy hair back. He waited for some gunshots to ring out so he could jump up and go help, but the building remained completely quiet.

Then Mordecai came around the corner. "It's clear, for some reason," he said, turning his back to them and walking on to Navire, who was waiting further in. Leonard breathed a sigh of relief. If anyone else except the bad guys died today, he'd kill himself. He stood up and Tiny Tina next to him jumped to her feet.

"I never liked this shithole," Marcus cursed. The Highlands Outwash was a dangerous place, as far as he knew, though he personally never went there himself and this was his first time. Roland walked ahead, holding one of Marcus' assault rifles close to him.

"I don't like it just as much as you do, Marcus," he said, taking careful steps. Tannis walked with confidence next to him, obviously not wanting Roland or Marcus or Scooter to think she was a coward. "Well, I don't think there's anyone here," she announced.

Suddenly, a badass loader fell in from the sky and stared at them menacingly. Scooter glanced sideways at Tannis. "I was about to tell you not to say that too soon, but I think I'll settle for 'I knew it.'." he said. Roland took a step back. "Well crap," he hissed, deploying his Scorpio turret. "Start shooting!" he yelled, unloading the full clip of bullets into the Loader's arm, trying to break its arm off. He ran back with the group, trying to escape its flaming bullets.

Roland's hand reached back and activated his ECHO. "Roland here. We're having some troubles with a badass loader, anyone wanna help?" he yelped over the ECHO.

Axton heard his ECHO click, followed by Roland's voice. He flicked his ECHO, while lying low. "Can't help ya there Roland, we're having a bit of troubles here ourselves with loaders," he said, as he fired at a JNK Loader coming at him.

Reiss slammed his rifle into a cripple GUN Loader and put a bullet right through its other arm with his pistol. "Roland's in trouble?" he asked as he fired freely at an EXP Loader who was running at him.

Axton stood up and hurled his Sabre turret out. "You bet he is!" he yelled as a HOT Loader burned his shield down. The Commando crouched behind the wall again. "Dammit," he hissed. "You're on your own for this one, Roland," he said, click off his ECHO.

Zer0 was up on the ledge, holding his sniper rifle in his hands and staring down at a bunch of Volatile Crystalisks, lurking on the icy plain below. Moxxi crouched next to him, holding her Good Touch in her hands, waiting for Zer0 to take the first shot before she, Zed and Lilith could go down and finish up the Crystalisks.

Zer0 was about to fire, when he heard his ECHO click, followed by some static, then explosions, then Roland's voice. Along with yelling in the background. Irritated, he ignored the ECHO first and fired his sniper, breaking off the valuable crystals on the Crystalisks' leg. He nodded to Moxxi and she signalled to Zed and Lilith to head down.

Then Zer0 stood up and answered the ECHO. "What?" he asked, slightly irritated. He heard Roland's yelling and sighed. "We are quite busy, trying to kill Crystalisks, contact Navire," was all he said, before he clicked his ECHO off.

Navire jumped as her ECHO clicked and explosions rang through. Mordecai looked back at Navire, then at an EXP loader who had heard the noise. "Crap," Navire hissed, activating her ECHO before she began firing at the EXP loader.

"What?!" she screamed into her ECHO. Roland's yelling came as a reply. Navire backed off from the EXP loader, which just got closer. "Sorry Roland," she yelped as she turned and ran from the charging up loader, "We can't help you- AHH!" she shrieked as the EXP Loader blew up, depleting her shields entirely and sending her skidding across the room. She panted as she propped herself up on one arm to see if her friends were okay.

"Handle it yourself. We're in trouble ourselves," she said, disconnecting her ECHO from the call. She pushed herself to her feet and ran back to her friends as her shield charged up again. Tiny Tina was helping Leonard up as Mordecai shoved aside bits of smoking metal.

"We all good?" she asked. Her team nodded. "Yeah… Roland's in trouble," she said, as she looked at the stairs. Loaders and bandits were flooding down the steps. "And so are we," she snarled.

Everyone had disconnected. "Well dammit," Roland growled, as he fired the assault rifle at the Badass loader, which was clearly trying to tie him out as a leader first. He rolled to the side and got to his feet, hurling out a grenade and his Scorpio Turret, as soon as it had recharged.

"So no one's coming to help?" Scooter asked as he fired his pistol at the Badass loader, which turned to face both of them. Roland pushed Scooter out of the way and jumped the opposite direction. "No," he said as he got to his feet.

Marcus was doing a pretty darn good job with a shotgun, and had blasted off one arm of the Badass loader. Tannis, on the other hand, was not doing anything useful except naming statistics of the Badass loader while attempting to shoot. She had landed a few shots, but they didn't do much. Roland didn't blame her, she was just more used to writing notes than shooting robots.

Roland crouched by a pipe while he reloaded his assault rifle and waited for his Scorpio turret to recharge itself. "I hope this is worth the effort," he said as he loaded up the gun and swung himself out of hiding.

"This isn't the most friendly place, is it?" Hammerlock asked as he blasted the core right out of a HOT Loader with his shotgun. Claptrap had been sent to rewire the Hyperion turrets to fight on their side, and Axton admitted the group was a lot better with Claptrap doing something useful for a change.

"No," Axton growled as he deployed his Sabre turret for what seemed like the 7th time. Reiss turned around and aimed his SMG at an EXP loader coming up behind Axton. "Axton! Behind you!" Reiss called. Axton turned and the EXP Loader blew right up against him.

Axton's shield shattered like glass, and flew back, hitting the wall. Reiss got up and ran over to him, kneeling down. "You okay Axton?" he asked, checking him for any injuries. Axton grunted and pushed himself up. "A lot better than most times," he growled, rubbing the back of his head. Reiss peeked over the short wall and took a few shots at the WAR loader advancing on Claptrap who was still fiddling with the system.

Axton shook the dizziness out of his head and stood up. "Hammerlock! Lure the WAR Loader away from Claptrap!" he yelled. Hammerlock took two shots at the WAR Loader, hoping to get it away from Claptrap, when the Hyperion Turrets swung around and began firing at the WAR Loader.

"Yes! Yes! Ah-hah! I did it!" Claptrap cheered as the Hyperion Turrets took out the WAR Loader with ease. Axton smiled. "Nice job, Claptrap," he said as the little unit rolled up to him. Claptrap raised his hand for a high-five and Axton figured he deserved it, so he didn't leave him hanging.

Jessup kicked a GUN Loader back, smashing it into two EXP Loaders. All three of them blew up in a cloud of smoke, attracting Axton's attention. "What the hell?" he said, turning around. Jessup seemed pretty pleased with himself.

Navire instantly began firing Moxxi's Bad Touch at the Loaders. She began backing up as the Loaders flooded down the stairs. "Well crap," she snarled, walking backwards. The room was already being filled, and more were coming down the stairs. "Uh… who supports running?" Navire asked.

Mordecai glanced at her. "Me," he said, firing a few shots from his revolver. Then Tiny Tina leapt in front of them. "I DON'T THINK SO!" she shrieked, completely emptying the rockets onto the Loaders and Bandits in an explosion of noise and… well, explosions.

Navire shielded her face with her arm, Mordecai crouched behind a crate and Leonard was around the corner, obviously protecting himself from the explosions. When the dust had cleared, Navire looked around the corner.

The floor was littered with corroded bits of metal and limbs. "Whoa, Tina," Navire said with awe. "That was badass," she said, "and rocket-emptying," she noted. Tiny Tina smiled. "It was a hell lot of fun," she said.

Mordecai crawled out of hiding. "That was shocking," he said. Navire rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's keep going," she said, running up the stairs.

Reiss had been counting the minutes. He knew they didn't have much time, so it was time to stop attacking everything in sight and start ignoring them. Time was ticking away, and it wasn't good that there was no signs of Salvador or Maya.

"Nothing?" Roland asked as he kicked aside a sheet of metal. Reiss shook his head. "No Roland… nothing." Roland sighed and looked pretty stressed. "Damn…"

Axton looked to the sky. "Dammit, anyone knows how much time left?" he growled as he grabbed his ECHO off the floor. Hammerlock shrugged. "Probably less than half an hour," he said. Suddenly, Axton's ECHO clicked.

"Axton here, what up?" he asked.

Zer0's ECHO clicked again. He activated it and brought his hand back to his sniper. "Zer0 listening, what news do you have for us, is it important," Zer0 said, looking through his scope as he waited for an answer.

He heard Axton's voice after a second click, but he remained silent and waited patiently for Navire.

Roland dusted himself off and stood straight, ready to go deeper into the Highlands Outwash when he heard a soft click from his ECHO. His hand snaked back and answered the call. "Roland in," he said, raising his hand for his group to stop for further instructions.

Navire had waited for Zer0, Axton and Roland to answer before she gave out further instructions. Once she heard three more clicks through her ECHO, she paused and turned around. "Guys, don't bother searching anymore. Go straight to Opportunity. That's where Maya and Salvador are being taken. Or at least… that's where I'm guessing," she said, walking back towards the Fast Travel her group had just passed by.

"How are you so sure?" Roland asked as he gestured to the Fast Travel station and mouthed "Opportunity" to Jessup.

Navire flicked her ears. "I'm not sure, Roland. I'm never sure," she said as she watched Mordecai key in "Opportunity" into the Fast Travel. Behind her, Tiny Tina and Leonard stood around and waited impatiently.

Axton just stood up and walked straight to the Fast Travel, motioning for his group to follow. "What the hell we gonna do there? Uungh- give me a minute guys," Axton said, disconnecting himself from the call.

Zer0 frowned. "What happened to Axton?" he growled, getting up and keeping his sniper rifle back into his bag. "Opportunity. Now," he said, pointing to Lilith then at the door back to the Fast Travel.

Navire was cut off from the call for a few seconds as she traveled to Opportunity. There was static from her side of the call until she was safely in Opportunity. "We're waiting for you guys," she said.

In a minute, Zer0's and Roland's teams were there. But Axton hadn't shown up. "Dammit, please don't tell me he got into trouble again, " Navire sighed. They waited around for a few more minutes, clearing off the patrolling loaders, but Axton still hadn't turned up.

Navire twitched the tip of her tail. "Guys, go right into the Heart of the HQ. Find out where they're going to bring Maya and Salvador to. I'm going to help Axton," she said. Mordecai put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm coming with you," he said. But Navire shook his hand off. "Don't risk it Mordecai. Just go with the others. I'll be fine on my own," she said, before she disappeared from Opportunity.

Right as soon as Navire left, Axton team spawned. Everyone was there. Except Axton. "God dammit guys, where the hell is Axton?" Leonard hissed. Hammerlock had a look. One that was made up of a mix of confusion and shock. "That's the thing. We don't know."

Navire took off from the Highlands Outwash, sprinting past anything and everything. "Axton? Axton!" she yelled as she ran. Her heart raced. What happened to him? She jumped to her feet and took out her ECHO, personally contacting Axton.

Much to her relief, Axton's ECHO clicked. Silence. "Axton?" Navire said. An irritating, familiar voice came. "No," it growled. Navire hissed into the ECHO. "Handsome Jack…"

"Oh yeah? You remember me, furry-ass. And I got your wonderful friend here with me," Handsome Jack drawled. Navire snorted. "Prove it."

Somewhere further in the Highlands Outwash, in one of the facility buildings, Handsome Jack shoved the ECHO out at Axton, who's hands were locked up. "Navire!" he yelled. Navire's ears shot up. "Axton? Where are you?" she asked.

Axton was about to name his location when Handsome Jack slammed his foot into his back. Navire heard Axton yell and Handsome Jack took the ECHO away. "Oh don't worry. He'll be fine under my care," he mocked. Navire hissed again. "You're sick Jack. Now tell me where you are before I tear up this whole town and your face."

Handsome Jack mimicked a gasp of shock. "Would you?" he mocked. "Well too bad, kitty. Find him yourself," he snapped, disconnecting Axton's ECHO from Navire's.

"Shit," she snarled, contacting Roland, who had taken over Navire's role in leading the group into Opportunity. Roland grabbed his ECHO. "Roland here," he said. Navire snapped, "Roland, I won't be back for awhile. Handsome Jack's got Axton. You just try to fight off whoever the Mystery guy is and get Salvador and Maya back once they're there. Don't bother sending anyone here to help me. I got this. And you're gonna need all the backup you can get."

Roland shook his head. "At least take someone else with you," he argued. But Navire was firm. "Don't," was her only warning before she disconnected her ECHO.

She ran into the first Hyperion building she could get into. The facility was quiet, except for gentle footsteps in the floor above her. Navire took out a flaming shotgun and headed up the stairs, even quieter since she wasn't wearing shoes and had her paw pads to silence her footsteps.

Once she had spotted her target, she took out her scimitar with one hand and crept up behind him. She grabbed the Hyperion Soldier by the neck and slammed him against a wall, pressing her blade against his throat. "Do you know where Handsome Jack is?" she growled.

The Hyperion Soldier attempted to shoot her but she grabbed his gun and broke the trigger off, then jamming the barrel with a piece of an empty grenade shell, pretty much rendering it useless. "I… I don't know," he gulped.

Navire could see through the lie and pressed her blade just the tiniest fraction harder. "Liar," she hissed. Then the Hyperion Soldier broke down. "Okay okay! He's in the main Outwash building!" Naire flicked her ears. "Take me there. And make sure none of your friends attack us if not, you'll be my new shield," she threatened, releasing the pressure of his throat.

She had expected the Hyperion Soldier to turn around and shoot her with another gun he probably didn't have, but surprisingly, he complied. He had kept silent as he led Navire to the main facility. Outside the door, he scanned his access card. The door slid open, and Navire looked inside. "Go in, and tell Handsome Jack I'm here," she growled poking him with the tip of her scimitar.

The Hyperion Soldier complied. He stepped into the building and went up the facility, to a room with the door closed. "S-s-sir?" he whimpered. Handsome Jack ignored him from inside, but Axton looked up.

Navire had no time for this. She slammed her sword into the Hyperion Soldier and banged on the door. "OPEN UP, YA BASTARD!" she yelled. Surprisingly, Handsome Jack released the door and it slid open.

Navire took a step inside and saw Handsome Jack standing in the middle of what looked like an arena, with Axton chained up by energy, all four limbs. "I'm giving you the chance to release Axton and walk away," Navire threatened. But Handsome Jack didn't move.

"No," he said. Navire hissed. "You asked for it," she growled pulling out a repeater. But all Handsome Jack did was elevate the platform he was standing on, until he was level with Axton, and put a gun to his head. "You move, your friend dies," Handsome Jack returned.

Navire smiled. She got it. She got Handsome Jack in a position where he could kill Axton, and that was exactly what she wanted. She had spent time with Axton slipping his DNA into the New-U station. But she hoped it would work. She herself knew the New-U stations worked for her, since it had many times. And right after Handsome Jack shot Axton, she'd kill herself and they'd spawn outside. If it worked.

If not, it was bye bye.

Axton glanced at Navire, who gave him the tiniest nod. He knew what was coming and looked at Handsome Jack, who still held the pistol at him. Navire took in a deep breath, then she lifted her pistol at Handsome Jack. "Do it," Handsome Jack challenged.

Navire flicked her ears. "Challenge accepted," she growled, pulling the trigger of her pistol. Handsome Jack reacted instantly, pulling it at Axton. Right about then Navire's bullet pierced through Handsome Jack, and she looked up at Axton. Or… whatever remained of him. She waited a few seconds, hoping he had respawned. Then she heard her ECHO.

"I'm out," Axton's voice came. Navire breathed a sigh of relief. At least she didn't have to kill herself. She turned around and tucked her pistol back in her holster, then walked out without even looking back at the remains of Handsome Jack.

Outside, Axton was waiting for her. She looked up at him, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You have no idea how much that scared me," she said. Axton smiled at her. "I was pretty freaked out to, about whether or not it would work," he said.

Suddenly, the ground rumbled, and Navire's ECHO clicked again. "Yeah, Navire speaking," she said. Roland was on the line. "You got Axton?" he asked. "'Sup," Axton said. "Great. Get back to Opportunity now. We found Maya and Salvador. But it ain't looking pretty," he said. Navire glanced at Axton and he returned the look, and they sprinted back to the Fast Travel.

"Are they coming? Because this isn't looking good," Reiss said as he watched Zer0 attempt to deactivate the shield blocking the door. He had hit it with his sword multiple times but it hadn't worked, clearly, if not they'd be in by now. "I wish Angel was here…" Zer0 hissed as he smashed his sword into the shield.

Then a voice purred over his ECHO. "You asked for me?" The voice was smooth as honey, sweet and reassuring. Angel! "Angel, can you possibly deactivate the shield?" Zer0 asked. Angel paused. "You mean the one preventing you from getting to Maya and Salvador?" she asked.

"Yeah," Zer0 said

"No."

"Why not?"

"Handsome Jack blocked that shield, only he or that guy can access it."

"What guy?"

"The one who trapped you all."

"Dammit," Zer0 hissed, "can you at least try?"

"I guess…. executing phase shift."

There was some static over the ECHO, and the group watched the shield, when Navire and Axton stepped up. "Can't get in?" they asked. "Angel's trying to phase shift," Reiss explained. Then Angel returned. "Nope, sorry. Is that Axton and Navire?" she asked. "Yeah," Zer0 said.

"I'll try whatever I can to get your guys in," Angel said, before she disconnected herself from them. "Now what?" Roland asked. Navire stepped up. "Now, we get ourselves in," she growled, pulling Tiny Tina with her.

"If you can't get in through the front, why not blast your way through the back?" Navire said, gesturing the wall to Tiny Tina. "At your service," Tiny Tina laughed, blasting the hell out of the wall. Navire shielded her face with her arm, and she coughed the dust out of her lungs. When the dust had cleared out of the air, she looked at the damage.

"Beautiful," Navire snarled, smiling evilly at the giant hole in the wall, leading to a staircase which headed up. "Let's go guys," she snarled, heading up the stairs. Mordecai followed her closely behind, holding a shotgun. Navire looked at him and he looked back at her. "You ready?" she asked. Mordecai nodded as they approached a heavily armed door.

Mordecai put his shotgun up against the handle of the door and blasted the handle off, destroying the lock with it. Navire slammed the door down with her heel and the whole group barged in, pointing their guns around.

The room was huge. There were three containment units around the arena-like place, and Mordecai knew who were locked in two of the units, though he wasn't so sure about the third. Right in the centre of the room was the shadowy man, a sleek, well-groomed figure. In his hands he held a single pistol, nothing more.

"Welcome, to the Opportunity Eridium unit," the man said, spreading out his arms in a welcome gesture. Navire hissed and flattened her ears. "Bastard, we're giving you a chance to walk away now. Just turn around, release our friends, and walk away," Axton growled. The man just shrugged. "How unwelcoming," he said.

Navire felt a growl rising in her throat, resonating deeply as she glared at the man. "You shoot me, I blast your friends with Eridium," he said simply. Navire's eyes flicked from each containment unit. Then she saw a robotic arm, which looked familiar. She stepped back to Mordecai, though she never took her eyes of the man.

"I know who the third person is," she said. "Who?" Mordecai asked, also watching the man, who waited patiently for their conversation to be over. "Gaige. Her robotic arm is over there," she said, her eyes flicking for a split second to the arm that would summon DT.

Mordecai wasn't surprised. "Guess he found her too," he said. The man looked at them with calm eyes. "Is your conversation over? I wouldn't want to interrupt," he said. Navire snorted. Then she walked away from the group, and right up to him. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Navire!" Mordecai called. She flicked her ear at him. "Don't, come up," she warned him. Mordecai knew better than to not listen to Navire. "Who are you?" she repeated. The man said nothing, but suddenly raised his hand and fired his pistol at Navire.

Her shield was low, but it had absorbed the bullet. She growled and smashed her SMG into his face, knocking him to the floor.

Right after that first move, the room exploded into combat.

Loaders spawned all over the room, marching around and attempting to take out any of the Vault Hunters or their friends. Axton ducked as a GUN loader fired above his head and he turned around, deploying his Sabre turret, which he had taken time to upgrade when he could.

The Mystery man lashed out at Navire, who backflipped off the ground and missed his swipe by an inch. She landed on the ground just a little further away and fired her SMG at him. He was pretty darn fast and darted away in time, into the throng of people and robots. Navire ran up to one of the containment units and fired at it, hoping to break it. She looked through the window, and saw Gaige crouching there.

"Gaige!" she called, rapping on the glass. The young mechromancer looked up. "Navire!" she said, standing up. She was a bit shaky on her feet, but she pressed herself against the window. "Gaige," Navire said, turning around and firing Moxxi's Bad Touch at a Loader trying to take her out. "How do you activate DT?" she asked.

"Just thrust my arm, he should digistruct," Gaige said, before Navire sprang away and lunged for Gaige's robotic arm. Just as she was about to grab the arm, the Mystery Man grabbed her by the neck and threw her across the room. For someone so sleek, he was awfully strong.

Mordecai saw him fling Navire away. "No one fucks with my girlfriend," he snarled, leaping for him. Axton had also seen it happen, and he turned from his Sabre turret to shoot at the dark man. Mordecai landed close to him, and fired his shotgun at him. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!" he roared, slamming the butt of his shotgun into the guy, who grabbed Mordecai and shoved him aside.

The man just disappeared like that. He vanished, and Mordecai scrambled to his feet, leaping to the other side of the room where Navire was kneeling down and reloading her SMG. "You okay?" he asked. "As good as I can get," she growled back, leaping to her feet.

Navire ran back for Gaige's arm, which she snatched off the floor and thrust into the air. From the arm, DT was summoned to digistruct. The floating robot digistructed into air, and it looked at Navire, who backed off. "Uh… Gaige? Will it attack me?" she asked. Gaige shook her head. "He shouldn't. But if he does, or is, pardon me," she said.

DT ignored Navire and went to slice up some Loaders. "Damn, that's efficient," she said, hearing something thump at her feet. She leapt up right before Axton's Sabre turret digistructed from under her.

"You will not reach your friends…. I will not let you!" the man roared, appearing at the top of an elevated platform high up. He cranked a lever and the room glowed purple, and screams erupted from the room, mainly from the containment units. Only from the containment units.

When the purple glow faded, the screams died down. Zer0 looked at Navire. "I'm going to kill him," he said, before he disappeared. Navire followed him, jumping silently upon the platforms. She hopped onto one of the containment units, probably Maya's. She saw the Eridium pumps leading to the unit and tried to figure out how to break it without possibly splashing everyone with Eridium. The sound of the battle drowned out her thoughts.

She flattened her ears and zoned out all the other sounds, allowing her mind some silence to think. She couldn't slice open the tubes, shooting it wouldn't help much either. But she had claws for a reason. She opened her eyes again.

She knew what she had to do.

Nimbly, she climbed onto one of the tubes and gripped on to it. Unsheathing her claws, she sliced a slit in the Eridium tubes, pouring the disgusting liquid out and stopping it from flowing into the containment unit.

From the platform, the Mystery man yelled, "What are you doing to my Eridium tubes?! Get the hell away from them!" He turned just in time to block Zer0's sword coming down. Dammit.

Navire ignored the guy and went on to the second tube. She leapt from the first broken one and jumped onto the second on further away. She slit open the second tube and flicked the bit of Eridium on her claws away. She waited for the purple liquid to flow away, before she leapt onto the third one, easily slitting it and stopping the flow of liquid instantly.

Roland looked up at Zer0 and the ghostly man battling hand to hand, and he hurled a grenade up there. Zer0 heard the soft clink of the grenade and locked the guy in place. "Good luck," he growled, pulling his shield away.

The platform exploded in flames and Zer0 came tumbling down, though he landed nicely on the ground. "Nice, Roland, nice," he said. Navire jumped back down onto the ground. "That's it?" she asked. Axton kicked aside what was probably the hand of the guy. "Guess we're never finding out who he was," he said.

The heat of the battle died down soon after that, the team finishing up the remaining Loaders. They managed to free Maya, Gaige and Salvador, who were tired and exhausted. "Come on, let's get them back to Sanctuary where they can rest," Roland said, leading the way out.

Once they had dropped Maya, Gaige and Salvador off back in the Raiders' HQ, Navire and Mordecai had gone straight to Moxxi's, where she was resuming her job as usual. "I didn't quite think killing him was that easy," she said, pouring a cup of rakk ale for Navire and Mordecai each. She slid them the glass cups, which they caught easily.

"I didn't either," Mordecai admitted. Navire just took a swig and shrugged. "Who cares? You know what we need to do next?" she asked, before leaning in close to Mordecai. "By we, I mean you and me," she purred. Mordecai smiled. "What?" he asked.

"We're getting revenge on Dahl for me, for Axton, and for Pandora," she purred. "But you know what we need to do first?" she asked. Mordecai raised an eyebrow at her, and Navire pulled him in, pressing her lips against his. It lasted for maybe 10 seconds. Then Navire let Mordecai go.

"Think about that for an answer," she purred.

**A/N. Well! That's it! I really hoe you enjoyed reading 10 Days, and now that this is over, I will be starting the sequel ASAP! I will also be continuing Hit and Run and Navire's ECHO logs, which may reflect some events that happened here. If you enjoyed the story, please favourite, follow, rate and review!**

**If you ever want to contact me, please do so at my Skype, which is Rexcaliburr, with two "r"s. XD, see you all on my next story, keep a lookout for the sequel! *it's a Navire story too***


	17. Chapter 17: Q&A

**A/N. No… this is not another chapter. This is to answer to a question I recently got on this story.**

**HolyCammoli: Well, if you'd like to know, please do go read "Hit and Run" by me as well. It is the story of how Navire came to be, with all details and such. I think it's better you read it than I explain, since its kinda long winded. Hm? **

**Also… update on my Progress? Not much :/ The sequel will be drafted with my friend ChocolateyPony so it may take awhile.**


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